July 26, 2021 at 2:37 p.m.
Bail increased for defendant in stalking case
Bail increased for defendant in stalking case
By River News Staff-
Ryan J. Mineau made his initial court appearance Thursday on a new criminal complaint charging him with two counts of felony bail jumping at which time district attorney Mike Schiek told circuit judge Michael Bloom that it appears Mineau is not taking his bond conditions seriously.
"This is a very troubling situation," Schiek said, noting that the complaint alleges Mineau was out drinking at a restaurant in the Green Bay area, as well as consuming alcohol at home, and had sent an Instagram message to an individual while that person was at a local establishment with the alleged victim in the stalking case.
According to previously set bond conditions, Mineau is not allowed to access the internet except for work and is prohibited from consuming intoxicants.
Defense attorney Gary Cirilli argued for a cash bond in the range of $2,500 to $5,000 on the bail jumping charges, claiming that his client is "not reaching out to harass or stalk" the alleged victim in the stalking case.
The alleged victim, who participated in the bail hearing via Zoom under the provisions of Marsy's Law, told the court the investigating detective told her that Mineau had screenshots of photos she's posted on the internet and he sent an Instagram message consisting of the thinking face emoji to a friend she was out with at a local establishment.
"So obviously he's keeping very close (track of my) whereabouts, where I'm at and who I'm hanging out with," she said.
At that point, Mineau pleaded to the court that he would lose his job and his home if he cannot get out of jail and his job is all that matters to him.
Bloom responded with pointed remarks.
"For better and worse, Mr. Mineau, there are some other things that should be in the forefront of your thoughts in addition to that," he said, noting that the alleged victim's statement about the Instagram message matched information he received from law enforcement in a search warrant application. "The facts that are available to me indicate, separately from what the alleged victim stated just now, what she stated, that an Instagram message, which is different than a text message, was received by an individual who was with the alleged victim at a bar and it appeared the Instagram message was from Mr. Mineau. What am I supposed to think other than Mr. Mineau knew where the alleged victim was and was poking the bear while out on bond for two felony cases, one of which required $10,000 of somebody's money to be posted. That, where I come from, is called a big, big problem. The sort of thing where if someone is concerned about their job, their children, their home, they are going to behave differently.... that's what I see from my chair, that's what I see from my chair."
He then set a $15,000 cash bond on the new charges and included a condition that Mineau have no access to the Internet for any purpose.
He also scheduled a preliminary hearing on the new charges for 3:30 p.m. July 30.
Mineau is due back in court in September on the underlying stalking case as well as a separate case charging him with hit-and-run involving injury and operating while intoxicated causing injury.
According to the criminal complaint in the stalking case, the alleged victim contacted the Rhinelander Police Department on April 14 to report someone had used her checking account to make $200 donations to two different charities and had tried to open credit cards in her name. The alleged victim provided the detective with a screen capture that included the IP address used to make one of the online "donations".
The IP address was registered to Mineau, according to the police report attached to the criminal complaint.
The alleged victim also turned over screen captures of numerous texts allegedly sent by Mineau.
According to the police report attached to the criminal complaint filed in the operating while intoxicated/hit-and-run case, at about 9:51 p.m. March 26, the Oneida County Sheriff's Department 9-1-1 Center received a report of a two-vehicle accident near the intersection of Highway 47 and Northwestern Drive in Newbold.
The caller reported that a vehicle operated by Mineau struck their vehicle and left the scene. Shortly thereafter, another person called 9-1-1 to report he was following Mineau's vehicle as it traveled to a residence on Forest Lane. A deputy responded to the address and immediately located the vehicle, which had "significant front-end damage." According to the report, Mineau was located in the garage of the residence with another individual. He refused to speak to the deputy without an attorney present but did submit to standard field sobriety tests. Based on the results of those tests, he was taken into custody.
Mineau faces more than 47 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
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