After he pleaded guilty to stealing money from the county, former Mercer County Treasurer Mike Bertelsen was sentenced to four years in prison.
Bertelsen was arrested in August 2012 after the Mercer County Republican Party alleged he took about $800 from their funds.
Although his attorney flatly professed his client’s innocence in that case, Bertelsen later pleaded guilty to felony theft and to official misconduct in connection with $13,000 missing from the Mercer County E911 fund.
That money, along with the $800 missing from the Mercer County Republicans, was repaid. The criminal charge for the $800 case was then dismissed.
At his October 20, 2014 sentencing hearing, Bertelsen apologized for what he had done according to prosecutor Michael Vujovich.
Bertelsen was to begin serving the four-year prison sentence at 9 a.m. Thursday, October 31, 2014, Vujovich said.
Bertelsen resigned amid the allegations, and a new treasurer was to be elected in the November 4, 2014 General Election.