Colfax Railroad Museum thief has not yet paid $7,000 in restitution

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  A 26-year-old Colfax man convicted of a felony for stealing iron from the Colfax Railroad Museum has failed to pay anything toward the court-ordered $7,000 in restitution.

Donald J. Binder appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court for a review hearing January 4 before Judge Rod Smeltzer.

Binder was sentenced to eight months in jail and three years of probation last April and was ordered to pay nearly $7,000 in restitution to the railroad museum.

Binder has had Huber privileges revoked and is asking to have Huber restored, according to Dunn County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Maki.

Online court records indicate that Dale Dohms, a sergeant at the Dunn County jail, reported to the court that Binder has had jobs while he had Huber privileges but that Dohms did not know how Binder spent the money he has made.

Binder has been sitting in jail since December 10 without any Huber privileges.

Judge Smeltzer scheduled another restitution review hearing for July 18 and said that Binder would be allowed to seek work.

Binder pleaded no contest last April and was found guilty of one felony count of theft of moveable property valued between $5,000 and $10,000.

A second misdemeanor count of theft of moveable property valued at less than $2,500 for stealing materials from Anderson Bridges in Colfax was dismissed on a prosecutor’s motion.

At the time of the sentencing hearing, Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf asked Judge Smeltzer to sentence Binder to two years of initial confinement in state prison and three years of probation because Binder has exhibited a “continual pattern” of theft.

Binder was charged with burglary as a party to a crime along with theft of moveable property worth less than $2,500 related to an incident in January of 2012 and received a deferred prosecution agreement in April of that year.

He was charged with obstructing an officer in April of 2012 and was sentenced to 20 days in jail in June of 2012.

Binder was again charged with theft related to an incident in May of 2013. The charged was dismissed in September of that year.

He was found guilty of entry into a locked coin box at the Colfax Laundromat that occurred in June of 2013 and was sentenced to ten days in jail, one year of probation and restitution in January of 2014.

Binder was again charged with theft of moveable property worth less that $2,500 in April of 2014, was ordered to pay restitution of $453, was placed on one year of probation and had probation revoked in December of 2014. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and was given 50 days of credit.

The iron pieces stolen from the Colfax Railroad Museum, as it turned out, were not simply pieces of scrap iron but were specific parts for restoring train cars.

Herb Sakalaucks, museum curator, said hiring a machinist to replace the parts would cost thousands of dollars.

Binder was ordered to pay $6,950 to the Colfax Railroad Museum in April of 2015 and also was ordered to pay $1,442 to another individual.