MONROE - A former pharmacy manager at Monroe's Walmart was sentenced this week to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service for embezzling more than $15,000 from the superstore while employed there in 2009 and 2010.
Jeff M. Stauffacher, 40, Mineral Point, pleaded no contest to a Class H felony charge of theft in a business setting, plus two similar misdemeanor charges. On the felony charge, he is ordered to a two-year deferred prosecution - meaning the charge will be dismissed if he successfully completes his two-year probation. He is convicted of the misdemeanors.
Stauffacher brought a check for $7,500 to his sentencing on Wednesday, Aug. 21, in Green County Circuit Court. This covers half of the restitution he owes. The rest is due by the end of his probation.
He has admitted to falsifying refunds and insurance bills to steal the money. In a written statement filed with the court, he said he took about $20,000 over the course of a couple of years. Investigators calculated a total theft of $15,006.
"He's still trying to puzzle through what led to this," said Hal Harlowe, Stauffacher's Madison-based attorney. At the time, Harlowe said, Stauffacher felt Walmart wasn't compensating him enough and decided he deserved more.
It was "immature and childish" judgment, and the stealing quickly escalated, Harlowe said.
Harlowe and District Attorney Gary Luhman brought forward the joint proposal for probation and community service. They agreed Stauffacher has no criminal record and has already suffered professionally, and that the financial damage to the Walmart corporation is ultimately tiny.
"It doesn't appear that any customers were defrauded or harmed," Luhman said.
Judge Thomas Vale agreed with the joint proposal.
Stauffacher was "the last person we'd expect to offend," he said. Now, "for the next two years, you will be under the thumb of the system."
When given the opportunity to speak, Stauffacher apologized for stealing and said he'd work "very diligently" to regain trust.
"I let down my fellow coworkers and my patients," he said.
Jeff M. Stauffacher, 40, Mineral Point, pleaded no contest to a Class H felony charge of theft in a business setting, plus two similar misdemeanor charges. On the felony charge, he is ordered to a two-year deferred prosecution - meaning the charge will be dismissed if he successfully completes his two-year probation. He is convicted of the misdemeanors.
Stauffacher brought a check for $7,500 to his sentencing on Wednesday, Aug. 21, in Green County Circuit Court. This covers half of the restitution he owes. The rest is due by the end of his probation.
He has admitted to falsifying refunds and insurance bills to steal the money. In a written statement filed with the court, he said he took about $20,000 over the course of a couple of years. Investigators calculated a total theft of $15,006.
"He's still trying to puzzle through what led to this," said Hal Harlowe, Stauffacher's Madison-based attorney. At the time, Harlowe said, Stauffacher felt Walmart wasn't compensating him enough and decided he deserved more.
It was "immature and childish" judgment, and the stealing quickly escalated, Harlowe said.
Harlowe and District Attorney Gary Luhman brought forward the joint proposal for probation and community service. They agreed Stauffacher has no criminal record and has already suffered professionally, and that the financial damage to the Walmart corporation is ultimately tiny.
"It doesn't appear that any customers were defrauded or harmed," Luhman said.
Judge Thomas Vale agreed with the joint proposal.
Stauffacher was "the last person we'd expect to offend," he said. Now, "for the next two years, you will be under the thumb of the system."
When given the opportunity to speak, Stauffacher apologized for stealing and said he'd work "very diligently" to regain trust.
"I let down my fellow coworkers and my patients," he said.