WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) — A former Wood County cheesemaker accused of stealing over $20,000 from producers appears to have reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
Michael Moran, the former owner of Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company in Rudolph, appeared in Wood County court on Monday where a judge set a plea and sentencing hearing in the case for April 20th at 11 AM.
Moran is accused of forging signatures on underpayment checks that were supposed to be delivered to producers for incidents when the USDA price for milk was set higher than what was paid for the product. As many as 80 dairy farmers are out $21,250.97 from the scheme.
Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese cut ties with Moran in January shortly after the accusations came to light. An employee of the retail store noticed the under-payment checks were placed with customer checks and cash to be deposited at week’s end and reported the behavior to the USDA.
Moran currently faces a single charge of theft in a business setting in the case.
Attorney General Josh Kaul noted back in January that the story is especially troubling at a time when the state’s dairy industry is lagging. “Wisconsin’s dairy farmers are in the midst of a crisis,” he said. “It’s particularly galling that theft alleged in this case resulted in money being stolen from milk producers during such a difficult time.”
