In State Supreme Court Race Crawford Claims Schimel Soft on Some Crimes

Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, left, and former Attorney General Brad Schimel, right, are running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April 2025. Photos courtesy of the Crawford and Schimel campaigns

With just over two months before a pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court election, an ad by liberal candidate Susan Crawford is criticizing conservative candidate Brad Schimel for cases he handled as a judge and prosecutor, suggesting he went easy on defenders, including in a child pornography case.

Crawford, a Dane County judge who is backed by Democrats, will face off against Schimel, a Waukesha County judge who is backed by Republicans, in an April 1 election that will decide the ideological balance of the court. The race could break records set two years ago, when at least $56 million was spent in an election that flipped the court to a 4-3 liberal majority.

Crawford’s ad attacks decisions Schimel made as state attorney general, circuit court judge and Waukesha County district attorney. Her campaign described it as part of a seven-figure ad buy.

The ad suggests Schimel was soft on domestic abusers and criticizes him for cutting a plea deal with a defendant charged with possessing child pornography after receiving “thousands” in campaign donations from the man’s attorney. It also criticizes his handling of a sexual assault kit backlog.

WPR looked into the claims with the help of court records.

Claim: Schimel ‘gave a plea deal’ in child porn case after donations from defense attorney

One of Crawford’s claims focuses on Schimel’s time as Waukesha County district attorney and a plea deal his office agreed to with a man “caught with thousands of files of child pornography featuring children as young as six.”

The ad references the 2013 arrest of Andrew Lambrecht of Waukesha, when a specialist with the Waukesha County Police Department saw an IP address registered at Lambrecht’s home offering to share files of known child pornography on a file sharing website. A search warrant turned up Lambrecht’s laptop, which “found several thousand files which were indicative of child pornography.” Of those, 13 files were designated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as containing child pornography.

Schimel’s office charged Lambrecht with one count of possession of child pornography, a Class D felony that carries a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in prison. Lambrecht initially fought the charges but later pleaded guilty.

A transcript from his sentencing hearing shows Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Brian Juech recommended the mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison along with three years probation. He noted Lambrecht had no prior criminal record and had sought mental health treatment while the case proceeded.“For those reasons, the State does believe the mandatory minimum prison sentence of three years of initial confinement is appropriate,” Juech said, according to the transcript. “We do feel three years of extended supervision is appropriate to ensure his re-engagement in the community after release from custody.”

Lambrecht’s defense attorney, Matthew Huppertz, told the court it had been “one of the top five most saddest cases I’ve ever dealt with” while lamenting the ease with which people can access child pornography online. He also said Wisconsin’s three-year mandatory minimum sentence, for those convicted of possessing it, should be changed.“Judge, I have to deal with the case and the law as it is today and, unfortunately I believe, so do you,” Huppertz said.In the end, the judge sentenced Lambrecht to three years in prison and two years probation.

While the case was initiated during Schimel’s time as district attorney, the sentencing hearing took place on March 5, 2015, two months after Schimel was sworn in as Wisconsin attorney general.

A person enters the Waukesha County Courthouse on Thursday, April 11, 2019. Darin Dubinsky/WPR

Schimel says donations did not create conflict, Crawford calls them ‘corruption’

Crawford’s ad notes Huppertz made “thousand in campaign contributions to Schimel.”

From 2013 to 2014, data from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign shows he made regular donations to Schimel for a grand total of $6,825 in contributions. In a letter provided by the Crawford campaign dated May 19, 2014, Huppertz references “several informal conferences” over several months regarding the Lambrecht case and acknowledges the prosecution’s intent to recommend the mandatory minimum prison sentence and three years probation. “If I have misstated the plea negotiations, please contact me immediately,” Huppertz wrote. “Thank you once again for the professional courtesies you have extended to me and my client in this matter.”

In an interview with WPR, Schimel said there have been many attorneys that have supported his campaigns for district attorney, attorney general and judge.“That doesn’t create a conflict for me, and there’s nothing about this that has resulted in anything underhanded,” Schimel said.

A statement from Crawford campaign spokesperson Derrick Honeyman said Schimel is “desperately trying to hide from the fact that he gave a plea deal to a man caught with thousands of files of child pornography” after accepting Huppertz’s campaign donations.“

Letting a child predator off the hook with the bare minimum, after pocketing thousands for his campaign, is the kind of corruption Wisconsinites are sick of,” Honeyman said. “Schimel could have sentenced him to 25 years in prison and $100,000 in fines, but only gave three years and a $500 fine.”

Claim: Schimel let domestic abusers walk with no jail time

Crawford’s ad also cites two cases he oversaw as Waukesha County Circuit Court judge in 2018 and 2020 where he declined to sentence men convicted of domestic abuse to jail.

One of those cases involved a dispute between William Sokolowski of Waukesha and a girlfriend on July 8, 2020. Police responded after a neighbor reported seeing a physical altercation between the two and provided a video recording showing Sokolowski shoving the woman into a vehicle against her will and driving away.

During an interview with police, the victim said Sokolowski kicked her in the thigh and that she was 11 weeks pregnant with his child.

After his arrest, Sokolowski described himself as a combat veteran who has suffered from PTSD, bipolar disorder and depression since his deployment. Sokolowski admitted to forcing the woman in the car against her will and said it was wrong of him to do that, while also claiming he thought he was helping her. He made suicidal statements during the interview and said several times he wanted to speak with a mental health professional.

Sokolowski pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct with domestic abuse modifiers.

Schimel sentenced Sokolowski to 12 months probation and required he maintain sobriety and follow through on any treatment or counseling recommended by his probation officer.

Schimel called it “obscene” that Crawford’s campaign is dragging Sokolowski’s name “back through the mud” and said he’s worked to “turn his life around” and hasn’t had any criminal record since his arrest.“The criminal justice system exists to protect the community, but it also exists to be able to restore people, when we can do so safely, to being productive members of the community again,” Schimel said. “And this guy is a success story, not just for himself, but for the criminal justice system that he earned a chance at redemption, and he proved himself.”

The other domestic abuse case cited in Crawford’s ad references the 2018 arrest of Patrick DeGrave of Waukesha. According to a criminal complaint, officers responded to DeGrave’s home after his wife called police to report an ongoing domestic violence complaint.

His wife told officers she and DeGrave were at a restaurant celebrating her promotion at work and he left to relieve a babysitter. She said he seemed angry when he returned to pick her up and later ripped her earrings out and pulled her ring off her finger at the home.

The couple’s 11-year-old daughter told police that DeGrave grabbed her arm and threw her about 6 feet during the altercation.

The wife said when DeGrave left the house to “cool off,” she locked the door and took the couple’s daughters upstairs. She said when DeGrave returned he pushed a door in, ripping its wooden frame off the wall.

One of the couple’s other children described prior instances of violence.

During DeGrave’s sentencing hearing April 12, 2019, he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor counts of domestic abuse and disorderly conduct. The felony child abuse charge was dismissed.

Schimel sentenced DeGrave to 60 days in jail but stayed the sentence and ordered 12 months probation. The conditions of DeGrave’s probation were that he seek anger management or domestic violence counseling if deemed appropriate by a probation officer, not engage in any violent or verbally abusive contact with his wife and not use any physical discipline with the couple’s children.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

In judicial campaigns, criminal cases often put under a spotlight

Jonathan LaVoy has spent the last 25 years as a defense attorney and is now a partner with Kim & LaVoy Attorneys at Law in Milwaukee. He hasn’t endorsed or contributed to either Schimel or Crawford.

LaVoy told WPR he’s not a fan of attack ads that focus on specific cases because they don’t paint the full picture.

LaVoy said child pornography cases, like the one highlighted by Crawford’s campaign, “are one of the very few” that come with mandatory minimum prison sentences in Wisconsin law.“So, it’s fairly common for somebody convicted of child pornography, on their first occasion, to get a sentence at or around the mandatory minimum,” LaVoy said. “Obviously, every case is different, but it’s certainly not uncommon for that to occur.”

LaVoy said he finds it “highly unlikely” any type of campaign donations would have impacted the prosecution’s recommendation for Lambrecht to be sentenced to the three-year minimum.

When it comes to domestic violence cases like the ones Schimel handled as judge, Wisconsin law requires a responding officer to make an arrest whenever they have probable cause to believe a suspect’s actions constitute violence against a spouse, former spouse or a partner they’re living with.

But when it comes to court, LaVoy said judges and prosecutors need to consider multiple factors with regard to a sentence, including whether an alleged victim asks for leniency against the accused.“Oftentimes, judges are required to look for probation or the least restrictive sentence first,” LaVoy said. “So, if a person, say, has no prior record, the law says that the judge must consider probation, or the least restrictive sentence possible, as the first opportunity.”

While the ads like the ones from Crawford are commonplace in Wisconsin Supreme Court campaigns, LaVoy said they give an incomplete view of the judicial system.

“Attacking judges on individual cases without getting context is not appropriate, in my mind,” LaVoy said.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Political Science Professor Anthony Chergosky said there are notable differences between Wisconsin’s current Supreme Court race and the 2023 contest between now-Justice Janet Protasiewicz and former Justice Dan Kelly. Most notably, he said there was a four-way primary two years ago. In the current race, both the Republican and Democratic parties quickly got behind Schimel and Crawford, respectively.

“So, I think we’re seeing a quick escalation of this campaign,” Chergosky said. Another difference, said Chergosky, is that public safety and crime “were not the defining issues” of the 2023 court race. Instead, he said the main focus from the Protasiewicz campaign was on issues like abortion rights and redistricting.

“We just don’t know what the big issues are going to be quite yet in this election,” Chergosky said.

Crawford ad accuses Schimel of going easy on defendants as Wisconsin Supreme Court race ramps up was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.