By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 38-year-old man who had been living in Downing and charged with felony counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm has been ordered to pay $6,200 in restitution.
Brandon J. Hermanson, along with his attorney, Jonathan Lundeen, appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court for a restitution hearing before Judge Luke M. Wagner March 31.
Hermanson appeared by video from the Dodge Correctional Institute.
According to online court records, Hermanson’s current address is the Dodge Correctional Institute in Waupun. His address was updated August 17, 2021. Prior to that, Hermanson was living at a Main Street address in Downing.
All together, Hermanson was charged in Dunn County with seven felony counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and one felony count of receiving stolen property worth between $2,500 and $5,000 as well as two misdemeanor counts of receiving or concealing stolen property worth less than $2,500 and one misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia.
Each of the 11 counts carried a modifier of being a repeat offender.
Hermanson pleaded guilty during a court hearing October 8, 2021, to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and pleaded no contest to one felony count of receiving stolen property worth between $2,500 and $5,000 and no contest to one misdemeanor count of receiving or concealing stolen property worth less than $2,500.
Judge Wagner accepted Hermanson’s pleas, found him guilty on the four counts, dismissed the remaining seven counts and sentenced Hermanson to five years of initial confinement in the Wisconsin state prison system and five years of extended supervision.
During the court hearing March 31, Judge Wagner ordered restitution in the amount of $1,120 to Victim No. 3 and ordered restitution in the amount of $5,041.70 to Victim No. 1, according to online court records.
According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department was contacted by the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Department on February 2, 2021, about a stolen John Deere Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) out of Wood County. The UTV had been recovered in Chippewa County on January 30.
A Dunn County investigator drove past 126 Main Street in Downing on February 2. While there were three vehicles parked in the driveway, the investigator could only see one license plate, which was registered in Wisconsin.
The vehicle was registered to an individual who worked in Glenwood City. When the investigator talked to the man, he told the investigator he had sold the UTV and explained that his “friend” from Wisconsin Rapids was going through a divorce and did not want to lose the UTV. The friend was later identified as Brandon Hermanson. The man said he had posted the UTV for sale.
When the investigator asked where Hermanson was located, the man said Hermanson had moved into his residence at 126 Main Street in Downing about two weeks earlier and that he had met Hermanson in prison. The man said that he, Hermanson and a woman with whom he believed Hermanson had a relationship were the only three people living at his residence.
When the Dunn County investigator spoke to a Wood County investigator, the Wood County investigator said Hermanson had a history of drug use, thefts and burglaries and that he was a person of interest in several other thefts and burglaries.
The Dunn County investigator also learned that Hermanson was a person of interest/suspect in a firearms incident that took place in Sun Prairie.
On February 7, 2021, a teletype was sent out to numerous counties informing them of Hermanson’s Department of Corrections warrant and for officer safety concerns.
On February 11, 2021, the Dunn County investigator was informed that Hermanson had been taken into custody in Wisconsin Rapids. The investigator also learned that a truck stolen from Wood County was recovered at a location in Minnesota.
Investigators drafted a notification of items that had been located at 126 Main Street in Downing and were contacted by investigators from Polk County who said they believed some of the items had been taken during a burglary in Polk County, according to the complaint.
