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She was charged with felony theft of movable property, according to a criminal complaint in the case. According to online court records, Whitledge ultimately pleaded no contest to an amended charge of theft of less than $2,500 and was required to pay more than $60,000 in restitution. The court also put a stayed sentence of 60 days in jail and a yearÃÛèÖÊÓƵ probation in the record.

During each election cycle, it is ÃÛèÖÊÓƵÃÛèÖÊÓƵ policy to vet candidates running for public office and inform readers of those convicted of felonies. Though Whitledge was found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor in this particular case, ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ determined the nature of the crime relates to the duties of the office she seeks.

A criminal complaint filed in Rock County Court stated that in 2006, the Beloit Police Department was informed that the Madison Road Veterinary ClinicÃÛèÖÊÓƵ owner noticed a discrepancy of $30,000 after compiling a year-end financial report from the year prior.

After the clinicÃÛèÖÊÓƵ bookkeeper performed an audit, it was determined someone had stolen cash from them by deleting cash transactions with customers from the computer. Additional funds were stolen through classification of transactions as “miscellaneous labâ€� charges and, because they were cash records, the charges were not reflected on the daily books.

An internal investigation conducted by the clinic concluded that Whitledge, a clinic employee at the time, had the “greatest knowledge� of the office computer and worked each day the unauthorized adjustments occurred, according to a probable cause statement in the criminal complaint.

The complaint stated that both the clinic owner and his bookkeeper later conducted interviews with employees at the clinic. Whitledge eventually admitted guilt before signing a confession letter, according to the complaint. More theft was uncovered after Beloit police acquired a spreadsheet documenting an additional 655 transactions deleted by Whitledge, bringing the total to $57,724.