Ann Retzlaff enters a Shawano County courtroom Jan. 22, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
BARABOO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Former campground owner Ann Retzlaff was fined $500 in a Sauk County case Wednesday, bringing her legal battles to a close.
Retzlaff’s criminal cases began in Shawano County, related to a May 2021 traffic stop, with subsequent bail jumping charges for missed court dates and bond violations. Last month, she accepted a plea resolving those cases, and she was fined $2,950.
After the criminal cases began, the bank foreclosed on Annie’s Campground in Gresham, which she owned. The property was eventually sold at auction to satisfy mortgage and tax debts.
After the foreclosure, Retzlaff was charged in Sauk County for allegedly filing illegal personal liens against those professionally involved in the action. State law defines the charge of ‘criminal slander of title’ as: “Any person who submits for filing, entering or recording any lien, claim of lien, lis pendens, writ of attachment, financing statement or any other instrument relating to a security interest in or title to real or personal property, and who knows or should have known that the contents or any part of the contents of the instrument are false, a sham or frivolous, is guilty of a Class H felony.”
In court Wednesday, however, the four criminal slander of title and two bail jumping counts were dismissed. Instead, she pleaded no contest to one count of theft of movable property, and was issued the $500 fine, plus court costs.
No amended criminal complaint was filed, and online court records do not include any details about the theft count.
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