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Walker's ex-aide is fined but avoids jail time

MILWAUKEE — A woman who served as an aide to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker when he was Milwaukee County's executive was sentenced Thursday to a year of probation for doing campaign work on county time.

Darlene J. Wink, 62, was one of six people who faced criminal charges stemming from a long-running secret investigation. The probe looked into activity by Walker's former aides and associates after Walker, a Republican, became the county executive in May 2010, six months before he was elected governor. Walker has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Wink wrote hundreds of emails related to campaign events, including invitations to a campaign fundraiser, said Bruce Landgraf, the assistant district attorney. He also said she did the work on her personal laptop, which would not have been subject to open-records laws.

Wink pleaded guilty last year to two misdemeanor counts of political solicitation by a public employee. She faced up to one year in prison and a $2,000 fine, but as part of a plea deal Landgraf agreed not to seek prison time.

Landgraf noted that Wink had a clean criminal record and that she also cooperated with prosecutors in two other cases.

"I think it's fair to say Ms. Wink did everything we asked of her," he said.

Landgraf also pointed out that Wink's infraction was far less in scope than that of county worker Kelly Rindfleisch, who was also convicted of doing campaign work on county time. Rindfleisch's activity involved thousands of emails, Landgraf said.