An Illinois woman was sentenced Jan. 26 to 12 months in prison and ordered to make restitution to the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin for theft during a COVID-era program that provided funds to business that were shut down during the pandemic.
Jennifer L. Feldhausen, an enrolled member of the tribe, received six payments from the tribe totaling $65,000 between Jan. 31 and March 3, 2022.
According to court documents, Feldhausen was the registered agent of J Lee Realty LLC, of Northern Illinois. She had the tribal checks deposited in the firm’s bank account, which she solely controlled.
In mid-March 2022, a tribal employee began auditing payments to verify if any of the checks issued to tribal members in March 2020 could be voided or reissued.
The tribal audit discovered the Feldhausen initiated unauthorized transfers that withdrew the tribe’s money from the Bay Bank account to one she controlled in Illinois.
Feldhausen’s account had no other deposits than the tribal funds she had transferred.
After being indicted in 2024 for theft from a tribe, Feldhausen pleaded guilty to the charge in September.
She didn’t attend her sentencing scheduled for Jan. 13 but was present for the hearing rescheduled for Jan. 26.
At sentencing, she faced maximum penalties of five years in prison, three years’ supervised release and mandatory restitution. The less strict advisory sentencing guidelines called for a prison sentence between 10 and 16 months.
Her attorney, Jeffrey Jensen, of Milwaukee, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Maier recommended Feldhausen serve five years on probation with no incarceration.
In a memo to the court, Jensen contended that his client’s clinical depression would likely be exacerbated in prison and without a job or income would be less likely to make full restitution to the Menominee Tribe.
Also, the cost of incarcerating an offender is several times higher than the person being supervised on probation, Jensen wrote.
However, U.S. District Judge William Griesbach imposed the prison sentence.
Feldhausen, who was not in custody, will be given a date to report to a prison by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
