MILWAUKEE, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A former aide to Wisconsin's
Republican Governor Scott Walker was charged with fraud on
Thursday, accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from a
fund
for families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The complaint accused Tim Russell, who worked closely with
Walker when he was Milwaukee County Executive, of diverting more
than $21,000 intended for Operation Freedom to his personal bank
account and using some of the money to go on Hawaiian and
Caribbean vacations.
Another man also faces fraud and embezzlement charges linked
to the case, while Russell's domestic partner, Brian Pierick,
faces charges of child enticement that prosecutors said came to
light in the investigation.
According to the criminal complaint, other funds were used
by Russell to attend a weekend political strategy session in
December 2010 with Herman Cain and his chief of staff, Mark
Block, to discuss Cain's now-defunct presidential campaign.
Russell, who served as Walker's deputy chief of staff and
then housing director of the Milwaukee County's Department of
Health and Human Services, faces two felony counts and a
misdemeanor count of embezzlement.
Kevin Kavanaugh, who served on the Milwaukee County Veteran
Service Commission, was charged with four counts of fraudulent
writings and one count of embezzlement.
He and Russell are accused of misappropriating funds from
2006 to 2009 from Operation Freedom, a military appreciation
event held each year at the Milwaukee County Zoo.
According to the criminal complaint, Kavanaugh embezzled
more than $42,000 from the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a
charity involved in Operation Freedom.
Pierick, a staffer at the state Department of Public
Instruction, was charged with child enticement and causing a
child to expose his genitals.
The Milwaukee County district attorney said the crimes were
uncovered during the embezzlement investigation. Pierick works
as an office operations assistant for education for homeless
youth at DPI, according to the agency's website.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm declined to
comment on the charges or the ongoing probe, which began in
2010.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien and John Rondy)
Follow us on Twitter: @ReutersLegal