Terry Gaouette, the former CFO of the Milwaukee Public Museum who colluded with the former CEO Michael Stafford to spend all the endowment money and then create and distribute false financial reports to cover their crimes, was sentenced last week.

He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of falsifying a financial report. He has to pay a fine of $500 and give up his CPA license for two years. That’s it. Seriously. He was originally charged with four felonies, but those went away.

No worries, though. He apologized. Yep. Said he’s sorry for “failure to communicate accurately…”

Now, we’re talking about at least $4 million in endowment funds wasted. $4 million of falsifying financial reports and lying to the board of directors. And he’s getting off with a $500 fine?

But golly gee…. Gaouette is going to give the museum $45,000 and they will agree to never sue him to try to recover all the money that disappeared. What a deal for the museum!