Michael Nieskes Announces He is Running for D.A. in St. Croix County

HUDSON - Former Racine County District Attorney and judge Michael Nieskes has announced he is running to become the next D.A. in St. Croix County.

Longtime D.A. Eric Johnson likes the former Racine public servant.“He’s the most qualified,” Johnson said to the Hudson Star Observer this week, calling Nieskes a hard worker “and an excellent prosecutor.”

He will be running as a Republican and will compete in the August primary election, according to a Star Observer report.

Racine Ties

In December 2011, Nieskes was appointed by Gov. Scott Walker to the bench and served as a Racine County civil court judge until July 2012 after losing an election bid there.

Nieskes joined the St. Croix County Attorney’s Office in September 2012. He began his legal career as a prosecutor in Illinois before being hired to work in the Racine County DA’s office in 1989.

According to a Star-Observer report, Nieskes won the high-profile case of Ahmed Hirsi, who was charged with 16 felonies, including six counts of attempted homicide.

Hirsi, who was accused in 2014 of shooting three people in downtown Hudson, was convicted in May by a St. Croix County jury on 13 counts, including three of the six attempted homicide charges.

While in Racine, Nieskes was in charge of the Racine County District Attorney's Office. Among his tenure, he oversaw two notable cases near the end of his time as D.A.:

In January 2009, former Racine mayor Gary Becker had been arrested at Brookfield Square mall in an apparent sex sting operation, where he had gone to meet what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.

According to a Journal Times article published upon his sentencing in March 2010, Becker faced up to 27 1/2 years in prison. The state Department of Corrections recommended four years, and Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes recommended 10, while Becker's lawyer, Patrick Cafferty, recommended probation.

In March 2011, Samuel Curtis Johnson III, a billionaire heir of the SC Johnson & Son fortune, was charged with repeated sexual assault of his stepdaughter.

According to published reports at the time, the charges involved 10 to 15 separate incidents, Nieskes said. If convicted, Johnson could have serve up to 40 years in prison. Nieskes moved on from Racine long before this case would be resolved.

According to a Journal Times report, that case experienced a number of delays as it was appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Johnson eventually pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges — fourth-degree sexual assault of a child and disorderly conduct — in connection with the case.

He was sentenced to four months in jail and was also ordered to pay a $6,000 fine.