WAUPACA – A 38-year-old Green Bay man charged in a case that led Waupaca County’s top prosecutor to warn that the sheriff’s office “regularly” alters deputies’ reports has been convicted of theft and sentenced to a year of probation.
Peter Klotzbuecher appeared in court by phone and pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor theft Thursday. Waupaca County Judge Philip Kirk also ordered Klotzbuecher to serve 20 days in jail if he violates the terms of his probation.
In February, Waupaca County District Attorney Veronica Isherwood sent a letter to 79 defense attorneys, indicating her office had evidence that a captain at the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office, Julie Thobaben, changed a deputy’s report related to Klotzbuecher’s case in a way that “resulted in the removal of exculpatory information.”
Waupaca County Judge Raymond Huber determined at a hearing in April that a search of Klotzbuecher’s vehicle by a sheriff’s deputy wasn’t legal and ordered any evidence “found during that search and any derivative evidence” be suppressed and any other material related to the case be turned over by the sheriff’s office before trial, according to court documents.
Waupaca County Sheriff Tim Wilz, in a letter released Wednesday, described a decision by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals related to the case as a “vindication” of the sheriff’s office.
“I have always stood by the hard work, dedication and truthfulness of all members of the sheriff’s office,” said Wilz, who became sheriff…
