December 16, 2015 at 4:50 p.m.
Milwaukee man receives prison sentence for drug dealing
Milwaukee man receives prison sentence for drug dealing
After a two-day trial in October before Branch II Judge Michael Bloom, Deangelo M. Jones was found guilty of the single felony charge filed against him.
Jones was arrested just before midnight on July 23, 2014 after being stopped by an Oneida County deputy just minutes after he had bonded out of jail.
Jones had been arrested earlier that day while riding in a car in Rhinelander and had given a false identity to the Rhinelander police officer who made the stop, according to court records.
In addition to finding Jones guilty of conspiracy to deliver heroin, the jury also agreed that the amount he conspired to deliver was in excess of three grams.
After Bloom entered a guilty verdict against Jones, the district attorney, Michael Schiek, requested a pre-sentence investigation be completed. Bloom agreed to order one, but without a sentencing recommendation as he said he tends to disagree with the Department of Corrections' recommendations.
At the sentencing hearing on Dec. 11, Schiek moved to dismiss but read in a bail jumping charge in another case stemming from Jones contacting one of his co-defendants, along with traffic citations. Bloom granted those motions, and "read them in" for sentencing purposes as Schiek had requested.
Schiek asked Bloom to sentence Jones to three years in prison followed by three years of extended supervision, noting the gravity of the offense and the danger heroin has proven to be in the community. He noted Jones served 30 months in prison on a 2004 cocaine conviction and argued that to sentence Jones to anything less would "be a step back."
Jones' attorney Michael Chernin argued that his client suffers from a mental health problem.
"I believe the doctor has said Mr. Jones suffers from bipolar effective disorder," Chernin said.
Chernin said Jones has a long history of untreated mental illness. Still, he conceded that his client had broken the law.
He then read a letter that Jones had written to Bloom in lieu of making a final statement. In the letter, Jones accepted responsibility for his actions, something Schiek said Jones had not done previously.
Chernin also agreed with a statement Schiek made about heroin becoming an "epidemic" in the Northwoods.
He placed the blame on the medical community which he claimed has been over-prescribing opiate drugs.
He said Jones came to this area because of the lack of violence among the drug dealing parties in the community.
"There is a certain knowledge that those who sell drugs in Mr. Jones' neighborhood can be subjected to violence from other drug dealers," he said.
"Milwaukee is a training ground for drugs and violence. This is the environment that Mr. Jones grew up in," he added.
Chernin then asked Bloom to sentence Jones to 18 months initial confinement with two years of extended supervision afterward.
Bloom said Jones' decision to take responsibility for actions after repeated denials is "a positive development." He added that he knows that sometimes innocent people are convicted of crimes, but is confident this conviction is just.
"I'm not naive enough to think this is what happened," Bloom said. "This is not one of those cases."
He added that the people involved with Jones in the sale of heroin in the Rhinelander area did not have the "sophistication" needed to engineer a "frame job."
The judge said that the jury found Jones guilty of "being a conduit for drugs into the community," and he had to respect that decision.
He also cited the need to protect the public from Jones' "serious criminal conduct" and the need to send a message to others who might be considering dealing heroin in Oneida County.
"If you are bringing heroin into the community you should know that if you are caught, if you are prosecuted and convicted, you will be sent to prison," Bloom said.
He then agreed to Schiek's sentencing recommendation but gave Jones credit for 243 days already served.
As a condition of extended supervision, Bloom ordered Jones to pay $268 in court costs.
Jones faced up to 15 years in prison and $50,000 in fines for conviction on the class E felony.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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