Wisconsin Cheese Group Fined $237,500 in Clean Water Case
More than a year after federal environmental investigators descended on a Monticello food plant and assured residents the operation was not immigration-related, the investigation has ended with a criminal conviction, probation and a $237,500 fine.
MONTICELLO, Wis. — Wisconsin Cheese Group LLC has been sentenced to one year of probation and fined $237,500 for criminally violating the Clean Water Act after untreated wastewater from its Monticello cheese plant repeatedly disrupted the village’s wastewater treatment system.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita M. Boor sentenced the Monroe-headquartered company Thursday. Wisconsin Cheese Group was also ordered to make improvements at its facility and work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on future permitting issues. The company pleaded guilty June 4.
The case provides an answer to questions that arose in Monticello in May 2025, when agents with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division executed a federal search warrant at the Coates Avenue facility occupied by Wisconsin Cheese Group, which is now Sabrosura Foods. At the time, the federal presence drew enough attention that EPA officials specifically emphasized that the operation was environmental — not immigration enforcement.
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