Colfax man pleads guilty to drug charges stemming from March raid

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE — A Colfax man arrested on drug charges last December and again during a drug raid executed by the West Central Drug Task Force in March has pleaded guilty to delivering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug trafficking place.

Dennis K. Mittelstadt, 48, pleaded guilty in Dunn County Circuit Court April 28.

Judge Rod Smeltzer accepted the guilty plea and dismissed three other counts of delivering methamphetamine, possessing drug paraphernalia and bail jumping.

Judge Smeltzer also dismissed drug charges related to possessing meth, drug paraphernalia and bail jumping related to a search of Mittelstadt’s apartment in December following the incident with his sister, Beth Mittelstadt, when she allegedly threatened the police chief and other officers with a machete.

In addition to the two drug-related cases, Judge Smeltzer found Mittelstadt guilty of obstructing an officer from a 2013 case.

Judge William Stewart deferred prosecution and sentencing on the obstruction case in September of 2013.

The charges of delivering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug trafficking place carried an enhancer because Mittelstadt’s apartment in Colfax was located near a park.

Mittelstadt had been living in an apartment above the Colfax Arts and Antique Mall, and Tower Park is directly north of the building next to Colfax Arts and Antique Mall.

Judge Smeltzer ordered a pre-sentence investigation for the Mittelstadt case.

Mittelstadt’s attorney, Kerry Kelm, asked that the court modify a $5,000 cash bond to a signature bond.

If Mittelstadt is incarcerated for three months, he will lose his Social Security benefits, Kelm told the court.

Mittelstadt has no prior criminal record, is a resident of Colfax and has an apartment in Colfax, she said.

During a preliminary hearing March 31, Mittelstadt requested a reduction in bail so he could go to his apartment in Colfax for medication that he needed, although Judge Smeltzer denied the request and said it was the jail staff’s responsibility to make sure that Mittelstadt received his medication.

At the April 28 hearing, Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf objected to any change in the cash bond set for Mittelstadt.

Mittelstadt was released on a $1,000 signature bond in December and then violated the conditions of the bond by selling drugs, she said.

Judge Smeltzer ruled that under the circumstances, it was inappropriate to modify the cash bond.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Mittelstadt in Dunn County Circuit Court June 22 at 10 a.m.

During the preliminary hearing in March, Dan Westlund, an investigator with the West Central Drug Task Force out of the Menomonie Police Department, testified that he had arranged for a confidential informant to conduct two controlled buys of methamphetamine from Mittelstadt on March 3 and March 23 at Mittelstadt’s 601 Main Street apartment.

The confidential informant was wearing a recording device for both buys, Westlund said.

A search warrant was executed at the Main Street apartment on March 25, and investigators found drug paraphernalia at the residence, he said.

At the time of the March 25 raid, Mittelstadt was out of jail on a $1,000 signature bond for one felony count of possessing methamphetamine and misdemeanor counts of bail jumping and possessing drug paraphernalia.