With hindsight being 20/20, cartoonist Mike Konopacki isn?t laughing at the fake press release he sent the Capital Times in February, now that he knows his forgery of a state representative?s official document could cost him $10,000 and three-and-a-half years in prison.
According to Wisconsin State Statute 946.69, a person commits a Class-I felony if they ? assume to act in an official capacity or to perform official functions.? It is this law could be used to implicate Konopacki, though its application would be ?nitpicking,? according to UW-Madison journalism and law professor Robert Drechsel.