Plea agreement being arranged for former school IT manager
Photo 
Brandon M. Keirns
JANESVILLE — A plea agreement is in the works for a former Janesville School District employee accused of enriching himself at the district’s expense.
Brandon M. Keirns of Milwaukee appeared in court Tuesday and waived his rights to a preliminary hearing and a jury trial.
Keirns’ attorney, Trish Arreazola, said she and the prosecution are working on a plea agreement.
Arreazola asked for a status conference in the case in July. Judge Richard Werner agreed and set a date of July 7.
Keirns, 32, is charged with two felony counts of being a public employee entering into a contract with private interests. State statutes prohibit public employees from arranging contracts for their employer that benefit themselves.
Keirns is accused of buying the district $215,000 worth of computer software from companies he or his friend owned. He is suspected of transferring money the school district paid the companies into his personal bank account and using some of the money to buy a condo.
Keirns, who was hired in December 2007, resigned in November 2008 after a computer virus crippled the school district’s computers for weeks.
Keirns also faces a civil suit filed by the school district that accuses him of racketeering and fraud.
The district has asked for a lien against the condo to recover money it lost. It also wants money for damages, attorney fees and the cost of its investigation.
Keirns faces a maximum of three years and six months in prison and a $10,000 fine for each charge.
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Mar 18, 2010 at 4:01 p.m.
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Zoom, it will still be able to be sold. It will be just like a short sale. The real question is the money trail. Was the entire profit that he skimmed from this deal used as down payment? In that case there may be some equity, even if the property has lost some value. The bank doesn't have a claim on that, only on what they mortgaged. (That money, of course, went to the seller.) So:
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Scenario A: The entire $200K was used as downpayment, the property was mortgaged for an additional (say) $100K, and it's now worth more than $300K. The district gets a lien on the $200K equity, and if it sells, the district gets all its money and so does the bank, with the rest maybe paying his lawyers.
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Scenario B: The same, except the property has depreciated since purchase (very possible in this economy). Here, the bank and district as lien holders would have to agree to a short sale, and on who gets how much. The bank is probably still going to be senior lender, so they get complete satisfaction, while the district takes whatever is left. Maybe they get half the $200K back, for instance.
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There are other ways this could go, but those are the simplest ones that illustrate the differences. If the money was not used for equity, the question still becomes where it went.
Mar 18, 2010 at 12:45 p.m.
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im w you sarahb. dahmerish...
Mar 18, 2010 at 12:21 p.m.
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This guy's stare scares me.
Mar 18, 2010 at 12:10 p.m.
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If the city gets a lien against the condo, he won't be able to sell it. Selling a condo isn't as easy as selling a puppy.
Mar 18, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.
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Ahhhh! Dang! Where's my head?? Silly me.
Mar 18, 2010 at 11:27 a.m.
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SwissChick: The hearing in July gives him enough time to sell his condo and flee.
Mar 18, 2010 at 8:44 a.m.
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Status hearing in July?? WTH! What's to figure out?
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