Osterberg pleads guilty to misdemeanor, other drug charges dismissed

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE — An 18-year-old Colfax woman has pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor drug charge while three other felony drug charges and another misdemeanor have been dismissed.

Samantha R. Osterberg was charged as a party to a crime with three felonies of possessing marijuana with intent to deliver, possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver and possession of methamphetamine along with misdemeanor charges of possessing marijuana and possessing drug paraphernalia.

Osterberg pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of possessing marijuana in Dunn County Circuit Court March 8.

Judge Rod Smeltzer withheld sentencing and placed Osterberg on one year of probation and ordered her to complete 20 hours of community service.

Court records indicate that Osterberg may petition the court to have her record expunged upon successfully completing probation.

Judge Smeltzer dismissed the other felonies and one misdemeanor at the request of Dunn County District Attorney James Peterson.

Osterberg was charged in connection with a traffic stop in the early morning hours of June 1 when she was riding in a vehicle driven by Jacob H. Foslid of Colfax.

A Dunn County sheriff’s department deputy had stopped Foslid and Osterberg and had discovered a safe in the car containing illegal drugs and slips of paper with names, telephone numbers and dollar amounts.

Deputy Chad Pollock testified at an October 26 preliminary hearing that he had met the car Foslid was driving in the Town of Menomonie between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. June 1.

Pollock said he had conducted a registration check on the vehicle and discovered that the license plate was registered to a Jeep Cherokee but that the license plate was on the Honda Civic Foslid was driving.

When Pollock stopped the Civic, he identified Foslid and Osterberg by their driver’s licenses, and said he saw a black safe on the passenger side of the car and observed that Osterberg moved her legs in an apparent attempt to hide the safe.

Pollock testified that the safe contained a large plastic bag with a green leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana.

The safe also contained smaller bags with a white flaky substance that appeared to be crystal methamphetamine and tested positive for meth, he said.

The safe contained a digital scale as well as numerous pieces of paper with names, telephone numbers and dollar amounts, testified Pollock, who is certified as a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).

Pollock said he believed that the items he found were indicative of drug sales.

The next day after the traffic stop, the West Central Drug Task Force, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department and the Colfax Police Department executed a search warrant at Foslid’s apartment.

A Dunn County Sheriff’s Department deputy stopped Foslid again on October 30 for speeding in the Town of Colfax, and the 21-year-old also is charged with additional felony counts of possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver, possession of meth, felony bail jumping and a misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia.

Foslid was scheduled to appear in Dunn County Circuit Court again on March 15.