Five Memorial Union workers were charged Wednesday with stealing more than $14,000 from the Stiftskeller last year.

The students were accused of misappropriating beer sales money by not ringing up sales and putting the money in the tip jar adjacent to the register.

According to the complaint, Daniel Ursin, 21, allegedly took $5,430; Adam Lisner, 22, allegedly took $4,920; Katherine Lee, 21, allegedly took $1,490; Erik Kopperud, 22, allegedly took $1,258; and Anthony Moore, 23, allegedly took $1,097.

All but Lisner, who attends the Madison Area Technical College, are University of Wisconsin students.

Two UW police officers worked undercover at the bar on the evening of Dec. 8, 2007, and bought pitchers of beer with currency whose serial numbers had been previously recorded, according to the complaint.

The officers stopped Moore and Lisner after work and found one of the $10 bills in Lisner?s pocket.

According to the UW police complaint, when approached, Moore said, ?You got me; I?m sick of trying to be deceptive; I?ll tell you want you want to hear.?

UW police were initially asked to investigate the facility after Rathskeller manager Jim Long reported an ongoing theft problem in the Stiftskeller, in which he said a large number of the approximately 50 people employed were stealing from the till.

According to the complaint, Long had begun to analyze register receipts, cash account forms and shift logs and noted there were many anomalies consistent with till-skimming.

Long met with UWPD Oct. 31 and said the investigation had narrowed to five employees whose patterns of handling the cash register indicated they were stealing from the register.

All suspects were interviewed and ultimately arrested last December. They had their mug shots taken and were later released.

Lisner denied taking $4,920 from the register, as reported in the complaint, but said he ?would take about $150 a night, on a good night.?

?Moore stated that there was a general culture in the Stiftskeller that it was OK to scam money,? the complaint states. ?Moore explained that the common practice is that if a customer uses exact change, you simply consider that as your tip and keep it.?

Moore also said he heard this from a fellow employee when he first started working that summer, and it seemed that ?everybody was doing the same thing.?

?That?s not just stealing from the Union; it?s stealing from other students who pay fees to operate the Union,? Wisconsin Union Director Mark Guthier said in a statement. ?We don?t believe that most student employees ? or anyone else for that matter ? think that?s OK.?

According to Dane County Assistant District Attorney Mike Verveer, Kopperud was the only one in the group who failed to appear in Thursday?s first court appearance.

?In his defense, the suspects were given very little notice to appear in court today,? Verveer said. ?There was some sort of paperwork snafu with the police department, but luckily, four of the five appeared today.?

The five were charged with misdemeanor theft, whose maximum penalty upon conviction is up to a $10,000 fine and nine months in jail.

Verveer said though hard to predict, the five employees may be recommended to participate in Dane County?s First Offender?s Program.

According to Verveer, the First Offender?s Program is run by the Dane County District Attorney?s Office, and to be eligible, one needs to have a clean criminal record and plead guilty to all charges.

The program could last from nine to 36 months, and it would involve community service hours, regular visits to a social worker and restitution of the missing money.