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Milwaukee DPW workers embezzled $100K, plead guilty
Two Milwaukee DPW employees pleaded guilty to federal charges, accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from the city – and spending it at Potawatomi.
MILWAUKEE - Two Milwaukee Department of Public Works employees pleaded guilty to federal charges, accused of embezzling more than $100,000 from the city – and spending the money at Potawatomi Casino.
Federal court records, filed March 18 with the Eastern District of Wisconsin, identified Kelly Whitmore-Behling and Kyle Hepp. Both pleaded guilty to the same two crimes: conspiracy to commit theft from a federally-funded program and theft from a federally-funded program.
Whitmore-Behling and Hepp were responsible for maintaining a fleet of city-owned vehicles and equipment, court filings state. That included selling unneeded property on the DPW's behalf, the proceeds of those sales thus belonging to the city.
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The federal documents said Whitemore-Behling started working for the city in 2014, and Hepp joined the DPW in 2021. The illegal acts took place in 2022, when both were put in charge of selling or disposing of DPW property.
Milwaukee Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
Prosecutors alleged Whitemore-Behling and Hepp sold almost all the DPW property they were entrusted with to people who they knew for "far less than the fair market value" in a money-making scheme. In total, the two allegedly paid $136,000 for city equipment that had a fair market value of more than $392,000. They made more than $100,000, split between the two of them, and then "gambled excessively" at Potawatomi using that money.
Court filings indicate the two agreed to pay the city more than $357,000 in restitution.
FOX6 News reached out to the Milwaukee DPW and city Department of Employee Relations for comment, including whether Whitemore-Behling and Hepp remain employed.
A DPW spokesperson said: "We cannot talk about a pending court case, but we did report this matter to law enforcement and we continue to work vigilantly to prevent theft and protect taxpayer dollars."
Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW)
The DER did not respond by Wednesday's deadline for this story.