Former DPW employees accused of selling city equipment, pocketing thousands

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Former Milwaukee Department of Public Works employees took a federal plea agreement after selling city equipment and pocketing thousands of dollars for themselves. 

Documents show the two employees worked together for at least a couple of months in 2022 to take unneeded DPW equipment and vehicles and sell them to friends and family. They then lied to the city about how much the equipment sold for and kept the rest of the cash. 

The plea agreement says the two gambled excessively at Potawatomi Casino during the months the scheme was ongoing. 

In the end, the pair took more than $100,000 that belonged to the city.

We caught up with Alderman Bauman Tuesday, who said council members knew there was an investigation but didn't have many details since it was a criminal investigation. 

"We didn't know it had reached a point of plea agreements before a case was even filed. I mean that's pretty unusual and indicative of the fact that they knew they were caught dead, too, right, and there's no point in even putting up with the feds, essentially," said Ald. Bauman.