(New Ulm, MN) –  A woman who bilked an iconic New Ulm restaurant out of tens of thousands of dollars has been sentenced, and now faces additional criminal charges stemming from the thefts.

Angela Marie Otto, 44, was convicted Monday of two counts of felony theft in Brown County Court.  Two additional felony theft charges were dropped as part of a plea deal signed in March.

Otto was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in the Shakopee Correctional Facility for the first charge and 1 year and 5 months for the second.  As part of the plea agreement, 5th Judicial District Judge Robert A. Docherty stayed both sentences for a period of 10 years.  Otto will instead serve 6 months in the Brown County Jail to be served in four separate segments.  She is eligible to have her jailtime waived if she pays $5,000 of restitution before each segment,  each which is scheduled in June through 2022.

In October, the owner of the Kaiserhoff restaurant in New Ulm reported to police that her bookkeeper – Otto – had been writing checks out to herself and her daughter.  Otto had been employed by the restaurant since 2016.   The criminal complaint said Otto embezzled over $27,000 from the restaurant, but a restitution claim filed with the courts in May detailed that Otto had stolen $38,241.55.

Because Otto failed to report her stolen income, she was also charged with 24 felony counts of wrongfully obtaining assistance in Brown County Court in March.  Court documents say Otto received $14,616 in SNAP and cash and food benefits illegally.  Otto is due to appear in court on those charges on June 11th.

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