Look at it on the bright side – at least the numbers are right this time around. Three months ago newspaper reports indicated Stanley Kluss had been charged with embezzling roughly $25,000 from the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, for whom he had served as executive director during 1986-2004. The real haul, as it turns out, was three or four times that. On January 20, Kluss pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling anywhere from $70,000 to $120,000 over the course of October 2000 to February 2003.
It’s something of a mystery why Kluss, 64, a resident of Crandon, in the northern part of the state, had resorted to theft. His salary was $82,400, and he got free use of a car and an apartment. Yet according to last fall’s 37-count indictment, he used WPPA credit cards to charge personal items such as a snowmobile, concert tickets, groceries, and travel. He also submitted false invoices for official union trips. Kluss agreed to sell personal assets as restitution prior to his scheduled March 31 sentencing hearing. (Capital Times, 1/21).