WILLMAR

— The man accused of stealing more than $27,000 from a local golf club pleaded guilty Monday morning to two felony counts of theft.

In a

Kandiyohi County District Court

hearing conducted remotely via video, Joseph Wisocki IV, 57, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by swindle. He was charged with stealing from the

Eagle Creek Golf Club

in Willmar during his time as golf director for the club.

An Alford addendum was also entered with his plea. Alford pleas are tendered when a defendant maintains their innocence for the record, but agrees that evidence to be presented at trial would likely result in a guilty verdict.

Alford pleas are treated as regular guilty pleas and have no bearing on the length of a sentence.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the two felony charges, three other counts of theft by swindle were dismissed by the prosecutor.

According to the plea petition, Wisocki is expected to serve at least 30 days in jail. Per the filed agreement, a 90-day jail sentence will be served in three segments. However, after Wisocki finishes serving his first jail term, the other two segments may be deferred if he remains compliant with the conditions of a five-year term of probation.

The prosecution has no objection to the jail time being served in weekend segments if approved by the court or in another county as long as the cost is paid by Wisocki, according to the plea petition. Recent court documents list addresses for Wisocki in Eveleth and in Virginia, Minnesota.

Wisocki also agreed to pay $27,911.34 in restitution to the Eagle Creek Golf Club. Payments will be installed on a monthly basis for the five years. According to the plea petition, the expected monthly payments will be $465.19, but Wisocki is allowed to argue for a different monthly payment at sentencing.

Wisocki’s sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for Feb. 24 at the Kandiyohi County Courthouse.

According to the criminal complaint, Wisocki was hired as golf director for the Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar in February of 2019. As golf director, Wisocki was responsible for preparing the annual operating budget for the club and authorizing expenditures of club funds for related expenses.

Wisocki was fired by the club in December of 2022 due to poor performance. The criminal complaint states his last date of employment with the club was Jan. 3, 2023.

According to court records, the golf club owed more than $100,000 in invoices, but thought the debt piled up due to Wisocki’s poor management skills. The criminal complaint alleges he initially lied about the club’s financial situation to the board of directors.

According to the complaint, sales were up at first, but after a short period of time the board became dissatisfied as it felt the increase in sales should have led to a more profitable business overall. Wisocki blamed the poor financial performance on inflation and increases in the prices of food and labor.

After Wisocki was fired from his position,

the club began to find financial discrepancies during his time as golf director.

A review of financial statements found that Wisocki allegedly applied for a credit card in the club’s name, but never reported it to the board. The card was also not disclosed on any of the financial statements Wisocki had provided them, according to the complaint.

Many of the charges, totaling $27,911.34, allegedly paid for services and products for Wisocki’s private business, Joe Wisocki Golf.

The complaint states the board of directors knew about Wisocki’s business but had allowed him to operate it with the understanding he would not let it conflict with the running of Eagle Creek Golf Club.

According to the criminal complaint, Wisocki also used the credit card for unrelated transactions from hockey retailers and organizations, sunglasses retailers and others. One of those transactions included a payment to a hockey organization for tournament fees while Wisocki served as board member and tournament coordinator for the Willmar Hockey Association.