Trempealeau Co. man pleads guilty in Boyceville counterfeiting case
By Cara L. Dempski
MENOMONIE — A Trempealeau County man will be sentenced in June after pleading guilty to one count of forgery-uttering last month in Dunn County Circuit Court.
Juan A. Campos, age 33 of Whitehall, entered a guilty plea during a March 31 hearing before Judge James Peterson. The plea came after Peterson denied a series of dismissal motions from defense attorney Richard Yonko.
During Campos’ final pre-trial conference March 17, Yonko’s motion to dismiss charges was denied. Yonko filed another motion March 27 to dismiss charges, and to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The attorney also filed a motion in limine to suppress evidence presented by the District Attorney’s office.
The state filed a motion March 27 to allow other crimes, wrongs or acts as evidence.
The defendant appeared at a March 28 motion hearing, during which Yonko and prosecutor Andrew Maki presented arguments for and against each motion. Dunn County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Todd Kurtzhals also attended the hearing to provide testimony.
Peterson denied the defense’s motions, but granted the state’s, arguing all statements made by Campos were relevant, and had been made after voluntary waiver of his Miranda Rights.
Maki presented a plea agreement to Campos during a March 31 status conference. The district attorney’s office offered Campos dismissal of a vehicle theft charge in another case, a $5,000 restitution payment, and six months in jail with three years of probation. The defense did not agree to the offer.
Later that afternoon, all parties met for a plea hearing, where Campos agreed to a guilty plea with three years probation and $5,000 restitution, with credit for time already served if probation is revoked. After the plea was entered, Peterson scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 9 at 10:45 a.m. and ordered the pre-sentence investigation to be completed by May 26, 2017.
Forgery-uttering is a class H felony in Wisconsin and can be punished by up to six years in prison, a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both.
