GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Former Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in a dispute over the Hotel Northland project’s finances.
Five aldermen accused Schmitt in 2017 of diverting $3.2 million in public money and creating loan defaults in the Hotel Northland project.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney wrote in his decision that “there is no evidence to suggest this money was improperly spent or was missing.”
“The money was not in the account as required by the lender which eventually was used by the lender to find the loan in default. Any ramifications of this issue can and likely have been addressed through civil measures related to contract law.”
Toney also cleared five Green Bay city council members of violating open-meeting laws for holding a news conference on the issue.
Schmitt was also accused by the council members of requesting a $500,000 loan, which he said would keep the project moving forward, but which the aldermen said would in fact have paid the hotel’s former owner, Mike Frantz, to walk away from the project.
Toney wrote of that accusation:
“Ultimately the investigation revealed the $500,000 request was abandoned and therefore not secured to buy out one of the partners in the Hotel Northland renovation. The truth of why the $500,000 loan was requested was immaterial to whether perjury or misconduct in public office was committed or attempted because in either version a crime couldn’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and if a crime were committed (legal privilege against prosecution) would apply.”
David Lasee, Brown County District Attorney, asked Toney to investigate as a special prosecutor in late 2017, citing conflicts of interest.
According to Toney, the investigation took nearly a year and a half because of scheduling conflicts and the unexpected death of Fond du Lac County Deputy DA Dennis Krueger in May 2018.
He says Krueger’s death led to staffing shortages in the office, which further delayed the investigation.
