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• NR woman pleads guilty to embezzlement
• Bishop talks at St. Anne's in Somerset about Erickson scandal
• Roll-over sends motorist to New Richmond hospital

By Kevin Murphy , Staff writer

A former Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 11 consultant pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to embezzling more than $125,000 from her employer in a scheme to fund her children's collage education.

Susan Selbin, 50, New Richmond, had administered grants to help teachers obtain continuing education credits while working for CESA in Turtle Lake from 1992-2004.

According to a document filed with the court:

Between Aug. 25, 1999 and June 15, 2004, Selbin created false invoices from St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minn. and submitted them to CESA for payment. Then arranged through St. Thomas to have the money CESA paid credited to the student accounts she and her children had at the university.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman told District Judge John Shabaz that a St. Thomas representative contacted CESA's administrator Robert Rykal last year about Selbin registering for and paying for classes but dropping them which created a large refund. Altman said Selbin asked that the refund be credited to her children's account.

When questioned by Shabaz, Selbin didn't dispute Altman's statements. Shabaz then asked Selbin if she was embezzling money for her children's education, and Selbin allegedly replied, "yes."

Undergraduate tuition, fees, room and board at St. Thomas cost about $30,000 this year, according to someone who answered the phone in the school's admissions office.

Altman didn't know if Selbin had repaid any of the embezzled funds yet, or when or how many of Selbin's children attended St. Thomas. A St. Thomas spokesman said Selbin attended the school in the summer of 2002 and the fall of 2004 but was uncertain about when her children attended.

A call to CESA's Rykal wasn't returned before deadline.

Selbin pleaded guilty to embezzlement at her first court appearance Monday and Shabaz released her on her own recognizance.

She faces maximum penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years probation and restitution at a Jan. 18 sentencing hearing. The actual sentence will be based on federal sentencing guidelines which consider the seriousness of the crime, the amount of loss, criminal history, more than minimal planning, abuse of a position of trust, acceptance of responsibility and other factors in the sentence.

CESA 11 serves more than 46,000 students in 39 school districts in 11 counties in Northwestern Wisconsin. CESA has a $22 million annual budget with more than half of the funds coming from state and federal grants and entitlements. Federal funds contributed more than $9.7 million in 2003-04 school year, according to court documents.

Bishop Raphael Fliss apologized Thursday at St. Anne's Church in Somerset for not knowing his seminarians better, specifically Ryan Erickson, the priest who allegedly murdered two men at a Hudson funeral home in 2002 and who later killed himself after authorities questioned him.

In a sometimes emotional and frank dialogue with parishioners, the bishop promised better reviews of men studying to become priests.

And he said the Diocese of Superior, which he heads, would emerge stronger and wiser from the "tragedies and scandals" surrounding the Erickson case.

Fliss and other diocese leaders are making the rounds to Wisconsin parishes where Erickson served to talk about the late priest and to answer questions. Prior to the Somerset visit, they traveled to Ladysmith and Hurley. They have yet to visit St. Patrick's Church in Hudson, where Erickson was a priest when the shootings occurred.

During his talk at St. Anne's, where Erickson trained for four years, Fliss said he was "sorry for the things I didn't do." The bishop said he felt a "certain amount of guilt" for not recognizing unusual behavior by Erickson while he was training and serving as a priest. One example: Erickson frightened some children in the way he explained his theological beliefs.

"What I learned was the bishop must listen carefully to the parishioners," Fliss said.

The bishop said he failed by placing too much trust in the recommendations and professional mental health expertise of those who worked with Erickson while he was in seminary.

The bishop said he would do anything he could to facilitate a meeting with families of the murder victims and Pope Benedict XVI, which family members have requested.

Between 80 and 100 people attended the bishop's visit. After speaking for about a half-hour, he took about 15 questions and then joined members of the church for bars and coffee.

See the Nov. 17 print editions of the New Richmond News and Hudson Star-Observer for the full story.

A one-car accident Thursday afternoon near New Richmond sent one person to the hospital.

Joseph M. Kobilka, Woodville, was traveling westbound on County Road K at about 4:45 p.m. when his car strayed onto the shoulder of the road. The motorist reportedly over-corrected, according to the St. Croix County Sheriff's report. The car went into the south ditch and overturned in an adajcent yard.

Kobilka, who was alone in the vehicle, was transported by ambulance to Holy Family Hospital, then taken by Lifelink to a Twin Cities hospital.

There is no report on his condition. Kobilka was charged with operating while intoxicated (second offense), operating after suspension and failure to be in control of a vehicle, according to Sheriff Dennis Hillstead.