The former village clerk for Chenequa and Neosho appeared in court on Friday, accused of taking more than $280,000 from the village bank accounts while employed for Neosho.
Deanna Braunschweig, 54, was arrested Thursday and is charged with two felony counts of theft from a business setting and two counts of misconduct in office. The higher of the two theft counts includes a maximum penalty of 7½ years in prison and five years of extended supervision and is related to the accusations in Neosho. In addition, she faces a possible 3.5 years for theft from Chenequa in Waukesha County, which is the same penalty as the misconduct in office charges.
Dodge County Court Commissioner Steven Seim placed her on a signature bond with the conditions that she does not have contact with Neosho or Chenequa personnel nor leave the state of Wisconsin.
Braunschweig appeared via video from the Dodge County Jail with her attorney Murali Jasti.
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According to the criminal complaint:
Neosho’s Village President Chris Oldenhoff became aware of money missing after the bank manager informed him that the village account was overdrawn by $6,000. The village also received a notice that the village’s credit card was cancelled due to non-payment.
Braunschweig had been the village clerk for 15 years and was the only one on the accounts. In the first six months of 2025, she wrote more than $42,000 in checks, and the village had said that she was being paid $15,000.
Braunschweig told them that she could not explain the missing funds and that there was just not enough money in the accounts to pay the bills. She was then placed on administrative leave in October.
She told law enforcement that she was paid $30,000 with an additional $60,000 stipend. She said that the position had originally been part-time and had grown to full-time. She was also employed full-time in Chenequa.
In addition, she said she had used her own money to pay the village of Neosho’s bills at times because there was not enough money in the Neosho accounts.
Braunschweig also allegedly used the village of Chenequa credit card to pay Neosho past-due bills.
Braunschweig has been a Wisconsin resident since 2000 and has lived in Horicon for the last six years.
“The investigation is something that has been pending since October,” Jasti said. “As the criminal complaint indicated, she retained me several months ago. We have been cooperating with the investigation.”
Throughout the investigation, Braunschweig has been available to law enforcement, and she is not a flight risk, Jasti said.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for April 23.
