Travis Schwantes is a former Wisconsin public defender who pleaded guilty in July 2025 to a felony fraud charge and two prostitution-related misdemeanors after prosecutors said he paid vulnerable women for sex and falsified paperwork so he could be appointed as the attorney for one of them. He was sentenced in August 2025 to 45 days in jail, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court temporarily suspended his law license the following month.1Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ex-Public Defender Travis Schwantes Gets 45 Days for Prostitution Case2Wisconsin Courts. Order Granting Summary Suspension in Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Travis Schwantes, No. 2025XX1442-D
What Prosecutors Said He Did
Schwantes was initially charged in November 2024 with two felonies and two misdemeanors; additional counts were later added, bringing the total to eight.3Wisconsin Law Journal. Prosecutors Accuse Former Milwaukee Public Defender of Paying for Sex With Client4FOX6 Now. Milwaukee Prostitution Crime Ring: Travis Schwantes Sentenced According to the criminal complaint, he paid at least three women for sex, including women he knew were being trafficked or struggling with drug addiction.5Urban Milwaukee. Former Public Defender Travis Schwantes Charged for Solicitation, Fraud
The conduct that pushed the case past misdemeanor solicitation involved his use of the public defender’s office. Prosecutors alleged that Schwantes falsified an eligibility evaluation form to get himself appointed as public defender for a woman he was paying for sex, writing on the form that she had lost her job cleaning houses when she was actually self-employed in prostitution with Schwantes himself among her clients.3Wisconsin Law Journal. Prosecutors Accuse Former Milwaukee Public Defender of Paying for Sex With Client He promised to help clear her outstanding warrants, though he primarily handled felony cases rather than the misdemeanor matters she faced.5Urban Milwaukee. Former Public Defender Travis Schwantes Charged for Solicitation, Fraud
Investigators also alleged that Schwantes accessed the State Public Defender’s internal file system to pull sensitive information about another woman, including her history as a sexual assault survivor, and used what he learned to build her trust by taking credit for the lengthy prison sentence given to her former abuser, whom he had represented in an unrelated case.5Urban Milwaukee. Former Public Defender Travis Schwantes Charged for Solicitation, Fraud One woman told detectives Schwantes advised her on how to “thwart law enforcement” and encouraged her to continue her operation.6WISN. State Public Defender Accused of Crimes Relating to Prostitution and Abusing His Public Office Prosecutors said he also had a sexual relationship with a woman described as an essential witness in a homicide investigation.7Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ex-Public Defender Travis Schwantes Pleads Guilty in Prostitution Case
Evidence included Venmo payments from Schwantes to alleged sex workers with subject lines such as “Justice,” “Just us,” and “birthday cake,” along with videos on his phone of a woman partially undressed while holding drug paraphernalia.6WISN. State Public Defender Accused of Crimes Relating to Prostitution and Abusing His Public Office
How the Investigation Reached Him
The case grew out of a human trafficking probe that began in April 2022, after a 42-year-old woman jumped from a vehicle stopped at a red light in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, escaping two men she had been traveling with to deliver cocaine. The Beaver Dam Police Department and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office opened the investigation, which expanded into Milwaukee.8Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Public Defender Accused of Soliciting Prostitutes, Clients
The Milwaukee Police Department’s Human Trafficking Task Force and the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office took the lead on the Milwaukee side, focusing on an apartment building on the 2900 block of West Kilbourn Avenue.5Urban Milwaukee. Former Public Defender Travis Schwantes Charged for Solicitation, Fraud Investigators relied on cellphone records, GPS data, and payment histories from Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal. A woman arrested by the task force gave police a list of clients, and Schwantes’s name was on it.8Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Public Defender Accused of Soliciting Prostitutes, Clients
After investigators seized his phone, Schwantes was placed on leave from the State Public Defender’s Office in May 2024. He resigned in September 2024.5Urban Milwaukee. Former Public Defender Travis Schwantes Charged for Solicitation, Fraud
Guilty Plea and Sentence
On July 9, 2025, Schwantes pleaded guilty to three of the eight counts: one felony count of falsifying paperwork to qualify for assignment of counsel as a party to the crime, and two prostitution-related misdemeanors. The remaining charges, including two felony counts of misconduct in office, were dismissed under the plea agreement.7Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ex-Public Defender Travis Schwantes Pleads Guilty in Prostitution Case
At sentencing on August 26, 2025, Schwantes received 45 days in jail.1Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ex-Public Defender Travis Schwantes Gets 45 Days for Prostitution Case He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $4,000 fine, which can be reduced to $2,000 if he completes 250 hours of community service.9WTMJ. Ex-Milwaukee Public Defender Sentenced in Prostitution Case
Status of His Law License
After the guilty pleas, the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation moved to suspend his license. On July 24, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered Schwantes to show cause why his license should not be summarily suspended, citing the felony and two misdemeanor convictions.10Wisconsin Courts. Order in Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Travis Schwantes, No. 2025XX1442-D On September 5, 2025, the court granted the suspension, effective immediately and continuing until further notice.2Wisconsin Courts. Order Granting Summary Suspension in Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Travis Schwantes, No. 2025XX1442-D
As of 2026, Schwantes does not appear on the list of attorneys facing formal disciplinary complaints pending before the Supreme Court, which indicates the matter remains at the summary suspension stage rather than a full disbarment proceeding.11Wisconsin Courts. Status of Formal Disciplinary Complaints
His Career Before the Case
Schwantes, 54, built his career in public defense. He earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and held managing attorney and chief public defender positions in Minnesota before joining the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office, working in Elkhorn, Racine, and Milwaukee.12Urban Milwaukee. Career Public Defender Travis Schwantes Announces Candidacy for Milwaukee County Circuit Court District 3013Wisconsin Public Radio. Ex-Public Defender, Retired Judge Charged in Milwaukee County Prostitution Investigation14Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sentencing Postponed for Cop Killer Jordan Fricke6WISN. State Public Defender Accused of Crimes Relating to Prostitution and Abusing His Public Office In 2020 he ran unsuccessfully for a Milwaukee County Circuit Court seat.
Where He Fits in the Broader Ring Case
Schwantes was one of six men charged in connection with the Milwaukee prostitution ring. The other five, including retired Kenosha County municipal judge George Easton, an attorney, a Milwaukee firefighter, a funeral director, and a Department of Transportation worker, each faced a single misdemeanor count of soliciting prostitution.15CBS 58. Retired Kenosha Judge, Milwaukee Firefighter and State Public Defender Among Those Charged in a Prostitution Ring in Milwaukee Schwantes faced far more serious charges because prosecutors said he used his authority as a public defender to facilitate and conceal his conduct.