Colfax man sentenced 1 year jail, 3 years probation for 5th OWI

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE  —  A 65-year-old Colfax man has been sentenced to one year in jail and three years of probation after pleading guilty to a fifth instance of Operating While Intoxicated.

Nicholas J. Russo pleaded guilty August 22 in Dunn County Circuit Court before Judge Rod W. Smeltzer and was sentenced to one year in the county jail, with six months held in abeyance at the discretion of the probation agent, and also was sentenced to three years of probation.

In addition, Russo’s driver’s license was revoked for three years, and he was ordered by the court to have an ignition interlock device installed on his vehicle for three years.

Online court records indicate that Russo can serve his time in Ramsey County Minnesota if it would be at no cost to Dunn County.

Russo was fined $1,864. He was ordered to report to jail no later than October 14.

In addition, Russo was ordered to consume no alcohol and to have no contact with bars or taverns where the primary sales are alcoholic beverages.

Russo requested a six month review hearing and is scheduled for another court date February 27, 2017.

He was stopped in the Town of Tainter in September of 2015 after a Dunn County sheriff’s deputy saw him driving erratically.