Sheriff wants $20k phone bill prosecution

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MILWAUKEE, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin sheriff says he wants a former employee prosecuted for charging taxpayers nearly $20,000 for her international phone calls.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said the nine-year employee, a nurse at the county jail, used her department-issued cellphone to make 160 international phone calls, totaling nearly $20,000, over the course of two years, WISN-TV, Milwaukee, reported Wednesday.

The bill for the department cellphones is paid for by the taxpayers, Clarke said.

"To me, 160 phone calls totaling $20,000 goes beyond a simple rules violation. To me, it's criminal because this person was not authorized to use that service in that fashion," he said.

However, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said there are no laws the woman can be prosecuted under.

"There is nothing that relates directly to using a phone service in excess of your authorization, and that's what occurred here," Chisholm said.

"I certainly agree with the sheriff and any citizen of Milwaukee County that would be outraged by that amount of misuse of county services, but the current law does not address it and it could be made to do so," Chisholm said.