Former Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer has been sentenced to serve 18 months behind bars and ordered to pay a $7,000 fine following his felony conviction for misconduct in public office. The sentence brings a significant legal reckoning for the former municipal official after a jury determined he abused the powers of his elected position for private benefit.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jorge R. Fragoso handed down the decision on September 10, concluding a high-profile prosecution centered on the misuse of city resources. As Judge Fragoso announced the period of incarceration, Spencer visibly reacted in the courtroom, letting his shoulders slump slightly and pinching the bridge of his nose as the reality of the sentence took hold.
Beyond the 18 months of confinement and the monetary fine, the court imposed additional mandatory requirements on the 69-year-old former official. Spencer must complete 100 hours of community service and enroll in a cognitive thinking class as components of his penalty.
Court officials confirmed that Spencer will serve his period of incarceration locally at the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center situated in Franklin. A precise reporting date for Spencer to surrender himself to the Franklin detention center was not established immediately at the close of the hearing, and he subsequently departed the courtroom alongside his defense counsel, William Sulton.
The formal sentencing stems directly from a July 31 jury verdict in Milwaukee County. Following deliberations at the conclusion of his trial, jurors found Spencer guilty of felony misconduct in public office. The same jury opted to acquit the former municipal attorney on a separate misdemeanor count alleging that he had obstructed an officer.
Under Wisconsin state law, the felony conviction had exposed the former top municipal lawyer to significant statutory penalties. Spencer had faced the possibility of up to two years of imprisonment, an additional 18 months of extended supervision upon release, and court-imposed financial penalties reaching up to $10,000.
Throughout the four-day trial conducted in July, prosecutors meticulously detailed how Spencer weaponized the authority of the city attorney's office to protect his private interests. The state argued successfully that Spencer subordinated his public responsibilities to personal financial convenience by systematically hindering regulatory oversight.
Central to the state's criminal case was evidence showing that Spencer intimidated personnel from the city's Department of Neighborhood Services who were attempting to conduct routine inspections on a building he once owned. Rather than complying with municipal code enforcement, Spencer took steps to shield the location from standard regulatory scrutiny.
Witness testimony and evidence revealed that Spencer directed subordinate legal staff within the city attorney's office to draft an official legal memorandum. This memo was specifically engineered to halt municipal property inspections at the site, effectively insulating the property where Spencer stored his personal collection of automobiles.
By deploying taxpayer-funded municipal resources and legal authority, Spencer successfully avoided paying thousands of dollars in required property repairs, municipal fees, and code compliance costs. Prosecutors emphasized that his actions constituted a brazen conflict of interest that subverted the regulatory duties of city inspectors.
During the sentencing phase, Assistant Attorney General Nicolas Heitman advocated for a period of incarceration between six and nine months. In his remarks to the court, Heitman underscored the gravity of an elected official violating the public trust to secure private advantages, pointing out that Spencer had exhibited an absence of remorse for his conduct.
Heitman stressed that the misconduct regarding the property inspection was emblematic of a broader issue rather than an isolated lapse in judgment. Addressing the court, the prosecutor remarked that Spencer's behavior demonstrated a clear trajectory, stating that at a certain point, the defendant's actions began to reflect an established pattern of behavior rather than a one-off situation.
The criminal proceedings mark a steep fall for Spencer, who was first elected to lead the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office in April 2020. His tenure at the helm of the city's legal department was marked by controversy, culminating in his electoral defeat in 2024 when voters chose current City Attorney Evan Goyke to replace him.
Despite the conclusion of this trial and sentencing, Spencer's broader legal battles remain far from resolved. The former city attorney is currently facing additional legal jeopardy stemming from four separate felony charges brought against him by prosecutors in October 2025.
In that pending case, prosecutors allege that Spencer engaged in an improper real estate scheme alongside a business associate, real estate agent Kennard Wragg. Court filings outline an illicit transaction in which Wragg allegedly convinced a Milwaukee resident to bypass the formal probate court process, selling a deceased family member's estate property to the pair for $8,000 despite the parcel possessing a substantially higher market value, with the ultimate goal of flipping the home for a significant financial profit.
The secondary real estate fraud case has been transferred out of Milwaukee County and will be adjudicated in Waukesha County. A court hearing regarding those four pending felony counts is scheduled to proceed in Waukesha County on September 11.
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