Heather Wenthold
RACINE, Wis. - The former executive director and principal convicted of embezzling thousands of dollars from a private, non-profit school for children with special needs in Racine County is headed to prison.
Heather Wenthold, 43, was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison and five years of extended supervision. She pleaded guilty to three charges against her, including theft, in May as part of a deal with prosecutors.
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Case details
Court documents said Wenthold was employed by Sonnenberg Consultants in early 2019. She moved to Sonnenberg Schools when it opened in June 2022 and was in charge of the organization’s finances.
The owner and CEO of Sonnenberg Consultants and Schools told Racine County Sheriff's Office investigators about suspicious transactions that dated back to when Wenthold started at the school. It wasn’t until 2023 that the owner became suspicious after Wenthold allegedly offered to continue her role part-time, under contract or leave altogether. It was at that time the owner learned from another school employee that Wenthold was working full-time as the head of the Cedarburg Art Museum – and had only been physically in the school five times through April of that year.
Sonnenberg Schools
Court filings show the owner told investigators she could only access parts of the school’s finances, and discovered a PayPal account that Wenthold used for the school was closed after she was confronted about it.
The owner later found Wenthold billed the school $5,000 for hot tub repairs, home repairs, home expenses and furnishings. In total, Sonnenberg estimated it to be more than $100,000 in unapproved charges, bonuses and fraudulent reimbursements. Wenthold was ultimately convicted of two of the three theft charges.
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Prosecutors said Wenthold fraudulently used a credit card in the owner's name to make more than $33,000 in fraudulent purchases, more than $22,600 in PayPal transactions, and more than $25,000 in raises, bonuses and supposed reimbursements for herself between June 2022 and April 2023. Investigators said it did not include all the items fraudulently purchased by Wenthold.
In light of the charges, the president of the Cedarburg Art Museum’s board of directors told FOX6 News at the time that Wenthold was on unpaid administrative leave. He said the museum was conducting audits of its financial accounts and, to date, did not see irregularities.