Milwaukee fraud scheme; pair sentenced after guilty pleas
Michael Morgan, Daneen Pope
MILWAUKEE - Daneen Pope pleaded guilty on Wednesday, July 5 to misconduct in office in connection with a scheme that included forgeries, money laundering and more.
A Milwaukee County judge then sentenced Pope to six months in the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center – but stayed that sentence. The judge then placed Pope on probation for one year.
Michael Morgan was also charged in the case. He pleaded guilty to three felonies and was sentenced in June to two years of probation. The judge stayed an initial sentence of 12 months in the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center.
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Case details
According to prosecutors, the two-part scheme allowed Morgan and Pope to benefit illegally. Pope, a Child Support Services employee, would create fake Satisfaction of Lien Forms. Morgan would pay her and then take the vehicle and turn it into cash – money that should've been in the hands of families receiving child support.
At a scrapyard on Milwaukee's north side, metal quickly turned into cash for Morgan, a tow truck owner, but investigators say every penny he made didn't belong to him.
A 16-page criminal complaint filed Wednesday, May 25 details how prosecutors believe Morgan, with Pope's help, embezzled money from hundreds of Milwaukee families owed child support.
From September 2019 to September 2021, investigators say the pair under a bridge near the Milwaukee County Courthouse on 9th Street for an exchange. Morgan would text Pope the VIN number, make and model and lien holder's name for a certain vehicle. He'd pay Pope, a Milwaukee County Child Support Services employee responsible for processing lien release payments, between $25 and $50 to forge a lien release form for the vehicle.
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In return, Morgan would get the vehicle lien-free to sell, junk or salvage.
The complaint says police believe Pope made at least $15,0000 and estimates Morgan made between $37,000 and $43,000.
Pope told investigators she knew what she did was wrong but did so to "supplement her paychecks," which she claimed were not enough for her.