BURNETT COUNTY -- A Shell Lake, WI man entered a plea of No Contest to his charges of methamphetamine possession in Burnett County on June 4, 2018 and the Court accepted the Deferred Sentence Agreement proposed by the State and Defense counsel.
Ricardo Romero, formerly of Shell Lake, WI, was charged with Class I Felony Possession of Methamphetamine in Burnett County Circuit Court following an incident in May 2016 (see below) when a Marlboro Blend 27 pack containing methamphetamine was found in the Danbury Casino by an employee.
During the investigation, law enforcement reviewed surveillance footage around the time frame when the cigarette pack was discovered. This led to the identification of Ricardo Romero as a suspect in the incident. When questioned, Romero reportedly admitted that he was in the casino with a woman during that time frame and that the cigarette pack containing methamphetamine belonged to him.
At a plea hearing on June 4, 2018, defense counsel for Romero and the State presented a Deferred Sentence Agreement to the Court for Romero. Although the details of that agreement were not listed in online circuit court records, the Court did find that it would be in the best interest of the State for the Agreement to be accepted.
Under a Deferred Sentence Agreement, an individual must comply with certain requirements within a certain time frame as specified within the agreement. If the individual is successful, then they may receive a less severe sentence; if they are not successful in completing the requirements of the agreement, then the Court may move forward and sentence them to the fullest extent.
**Original Post**
Shell Lake Man Facing Meth Charges
Wednesday, September 13, 2017 | by Ben Dryden
BURNETT COUNTY -- Felony charges for Class I Possession of Methamphetamine have been filed in Burnett County Circuit Court against a Shell Lake, WI man.
The criminal complaint filed on August 9, 2017, against Ricardo Romero of Shell Lake, WI states that in May of 2016 a Danbury Casino employee found a Marlboro Blend 27 cigarette pack which contained methamphetamine along with seven cigarettes.
When surveillance footage was reviewed of the area where the cigarette pack was found, a woman was seen using one of the slot machines in the casino. The criminal complaint goes on to state that she was then seen removing the cigarette pack from her purse. She continued to gamble for a short time and then got up and left the cigarette pack behind. No one else was seen touching the cigarette pack until the casino employee found it and picked it up.
According to the criminal complaint, the surveillance footage showed the employee doing a "double take" when he opened the cigarette pack, and then he took it to security.
Security did locate the woman who was still in the casino and subsequently told her to leave. In a later interview with the St. Croix Tribal Police Department, Ricardo Romero reportedly admitted that he was at the casino on that date with the woman seen in the surveillance footage.
Romero allegedly told officers that he and the woman smoke the same type of cigarettes and that the pack containing the methamphetamine belonged to him, but he had left it "lying around" and the woman had picked it up by mistake.
Romero appeared in Burnett County Circuit Court today, September 13 regarding his felony charges. The Court placed Romero on a signature bond.
The maximum penalty for Class I Felony Possession of Methamphetamine is imprisonment for not more than 3 years, 6 months, or a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.
Pursuant to the direction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as found in Supreme Court Rule 20:3.6, Trial Publicly, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Last Update: Jun 07, 2018 7:12 am CDT
