UPDATE: Former UW Employee Charge for Theft of Funds at SWAP

• Incident date: December 13, 2013, 12:00 am
• Incident type: Theft
• Location/address: SWAP - 1061 Thousand Oaks Trail, Verona, WI 53593

A former UW-Madison employee has been charged with felony theft, after a months-long police investigation by the UW-Madison Police Department.

Sonja Dedrick, 42, of Verona, was charged after an investigation determined she had embezzled $144,642 from UW SWAP (Surplus With A Purpose), where she was a Senior Accountant.

In late September, SWAP employees noticed approximately $45,000 missing from accounts – that triggered a broader audit, which led to the discovery of the larger amount that had been stolen.

Dedrick admitted to police that she stole the money over the last year to pay bills. All of the money has since been recovered.

UPDATE (3/12/14): On March 7, 2014, Sonja Dedrick pleaded guilty in Dane County Court to felony embezzlement — she was sentenced to 80 days in jail and three years probation. Dedrick has since paid back all missing funds to the University.