Fired Prosecutors Say Problems Exist in D.A.'s Office

The Wisconsin Attorney General's office confirms to Action 2 News that the FBI is investigating Winnebago County District Attorney Joe Paulus. Reliable sources tell us the FBI is investigating Joe Paulus concerning the possibility his office may have accepted bribes in return for reduced or dismissed charges.

Paulus denies any wrongdoing, and the FBI refuses to confirm it is investigating Paulus.

Attorney Milt Schierland is at the center of the investigation. So far, two people have stepped forward to say they paid him money to have charges against them reduced or dismissed. This happened when Schierland was a defense attorney. He has since been hired as an assistant district attorney in Winnebago County.

Tuesday, Paulus fired two of his assistant prosecutors, Ed "E.J." Jelinski and Tom Chalcoff. The D.A. says his political opponents are responsible for the claims of wrongdoing, which he calls a smear campaign. Jelinski is running for the district attorney's office in the upcoming election and Chalcoff is Jelinski's campaign manager.

The two men tell Action 2 News anyone who goes up against Joe Paulus can expect this type of behavior. We were not able to speak to Paulus on Thursday but we did see the letter of termination for Jelinski. Overall, it says his performance as a prosecutor is poor. It also says Jelinski engaged in insubordinate and inappropriate behavior, undermined Paulus's authority, and endangered the D.A.'s working relationship with the public and courts.

All of which the two men fired deny.

"Somebody had to stand up and say that's enough, it shouldn't go on any more," Jelinski told us.

The former assistant district attorney said he is that somebody. He said when he started working in the Winnebago County District Attorney's office June of last year, he immediately noticed something was wrong.

"I had to choose whether or not to 'not' speak out and keep my employment, or stand up and do what I thought was the right thing," he said.

Former assistant D.A. Thomas Chalchoff says he was right there with him, also concerned with how the D.A.'s office was run.

The claim in their letters of termination that their "record as a prosecutor is poor," they say, is simply wrong-- or worse still, a lie.

"I haven't made any mistakes that were major or seriously jeopardized the successful prosecution of any defendant."

But when pressed about what exactly is wrong with the district attorney's office they would not say, citing the current FBI investigation.

Action 2 News tried to talk to Joe Paulus about why he fired the men. We were told he was out of the office all day.

Tuesday night he briefly explained his decision to a local radio station. He said, "My first obligation is to the D.A.'s office, and I thought it was in the best interest of the D.A.'s office. But because it's a personnel matter, I have been advised by the [attorney general's] office that I cannot discuss the details of the termination."

But the attorney general's office told Action 2 News Wednesday that it is completely up to Paulus whether he publicly discusses his decision.

Jelinski says he doesn't know what impact this will have on his election chances, especially since Paulus has not said whether he will seek re-election.