No prison for former Marquette County deputy Daniel Card

In 2008 The Madison NORML blog covered the story of a former Marquette County sheriff’s deputy accused of stealing drugs from an evidence storage room.  In short the article covered for former cop facing a second set of charges relating to allegations of drug thefts from the department evidence locker.

In March, a deputy discovered in the department’s records room an empty prescription bottle, stored as evidence for a 2006 case. That led to an investigation into other items missing from the department’s evidence room, according to the criminal complaint.

During the investigation, deputies discovered a second empty prescription bottle, three empty evidence bags and a dated receipt from April 29, 2007, in the back of a filing cabinet containing records from 1995, the complaint stated.

If he is found guilty of the new charges, Card faces up to 11 and a half years in prison and $60,000 in fines, in addition to a maximum of 31 years in prison and fines of up to $80,000 for the charges filed in December.

So flash forward and read today’s headline in the of No prison sought for former deputy in the Portage Daily Register.  Of course one could look a the report and be glad the judicial system is handling “drug issues” perhaps as a public health issue rather than a criminal one.  Personally, I have  not been following the case but it was brought to my attention this morning and thought it worth the mention here.

MONTELLO – Prosecutors will not ask for prison for a former Marquette County sheriff’s deputy accused of stealing drugs from an evidence storage room after the Montello man entered pleas to misdemeanor charges in the 3-year-old case.

Daniel P. Card, 34, of Montello, pleaded no contest Wednesday in Marquette County Circuit Court to misdemeanor charges of theft and entry into a locked room without permission.

The charges carry a maximum penalty each of nine months in jail.

The charges stem from 2007 and 2008 cases in which Card is accused of taking without permission drugs kept as evidence by the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office in April and May 2007.

After five days of testimony, a jury in January 2009 found Card guilty of felony possession of a narcotic drug (oxycodone) without a valid prescription on May 12, 2007.

While the charge carries a maximum initial term in prison of 1 1/2 years in prison, assistant attorney general Dennis Krueger said he will not ask Wright to sentence Card to prison.

“You will not hear the word ‘prison’ coming from the state as part of a sentencing argument,” Krueger told Judge Richard Wright at the hearing Wednesday.

The report goes on to indicate an appeal would be coming, of course that is part of the process.  But you would have thought an investigation into Card’s background would have been completed before they even gave him a deal with the plea bargain or went to trail in 2007?

Defense attorney Dean Strang of Madison said Card will appeal the jury’s verdict on the felony charge after he is sentenced on the three charges.

Wright ordered an investigation into Card’s background to be completed to provide information for a sentencing hearing.