Dunn County judge declines to reduce jail sentence for man found in Colfax garage
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A Dunn County judge has declined to reduce a jail sentence by four months for a 48-year-old Menomonie man found in a Colfax garage in August of 2018 with methamphetamine, marijuana, gem Baggies and drug paraphernalia.
Steven O. Johnson, who is in custody, appeared by video-conferencing before Judge James Peterson in Dunn County Circuit Court May 28 for a motion hearing to reduce Johnson’s jail sentence.
Johnson was charged with felony burglary, felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and two felony counts of bail jumping along with misdemeanor counts of possessing marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in connection with the incident in the Colfax garage.
He pleaded no contest and was found guilty on the felony burglary charge while the other charges were dismissed but read into the record for sentencing. Sentence was withheld, and Johnson was placed on six years of probation in August of 2019.
Johnson was sentenced to 12 months of conditional jail time in a second case in which he pleaded guilty to manufacturing and delivering methamphetamine.
In the second case, Johnson also was charged with felony counts of maintaining a drug trafficking place and bail jumping.
Johnson pleaded guilty to manufacturing and delivering methamphetamine, and in October of 2019, a four-year sentence in state prison and four years of extended supervision were imposed and stayed, and Johnson was placed on six years of probation with 12 months of jail time as a condition for probation.
In a third case, Johnson was charged with misdemeanor counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and bail jumping, along with four felony counts of bail jumping.
He pleaded guilty to one felony count of bail jumping in August of 2019. Sentence was withheld, and he was placed on three years of probation.
In a fourth case, Johnson was charged with misdemeanor retail theft of less than $500, five counts of felony bail jumping and one misdemeanor count of bail jumping. He pleaded guilty to retail theft and was sentenced to nine months in jail, to be served concurrently with the 12-month sentence.
All together, for the four cases, Johnson was charged with 16 felonies and five misdemeanors.
At the May 28 court hearing, Johnson requested his jail time be amended to time served and that four months be removed from the remaining jail time.
Judge Peterson denied the motion.
According to the criminal complaint, the Colfax Police Department received a call about a possible burglary at a home in the 600 block of East Railroad Avenue in Colfax on August 7, 2018.
The Colfax officer spoke to the owners of the property who said their shed had been burglarized and that several items were not where they were supposed to be.
The property owner said he had checked the ground level of the shed and did not see anyone, but a ladder, which was not supposed to be there, was leaning up against the loft and there was a bag with a phone in it at the bottom of the ladder that did not belong to either of the property owners.
The Colfax police officer searched the loft and found a man, later identified as Johnson, who appeared to be sleeping.
After Johnson came down out of the loft, he told the officers he could not remember how he got to the shed, did not know where he was, and the last thing he remembered was being in Eau Claire.