Lariviere gets 15 years in prison

At the end of a Friday afternoon sentencing hearing that lasted over 90 minutes, and featured markedly different descriptions of the defendant, Judge Daniel Overbey of Vilas County told Jasmine Lariviere he wasn’t sure if she’s calculative and manipulative, as the state alleged, or remorseful and committed to living a different life as she suggested in her statement to the court.

“I don’t know which you is really you,” he told the defendant just moments after handing down a total sentence of 15 years confinement to be followed by 10 years extended supervision.

A shorter sentence, like the four years of confinement recommended by her attorney, could not be justified given that she made another trip to Green Bay and brought potentially lethal drugs back to Oneida County just two weeks after learning that 29-year-old Kyle Polinski had died after ingesting a pill she had sold to him, the judge concluded.

Lariviere, 25, was convicted in April following a four-day jury trial. An Oneida County jury found her guilty of all charges — first-degree reckless homicide (drug delivery), two counts of felony bail jumping and possession of Fentanyl with the intent to deliver.

According to trial testimony, the transaction in Polinski’s driveway back in April 2022 lasted mere moments. 

Polinski purchased what he thought were Percocet pills from Lariviere and her co-defendant, Malik Jones, and they went off into the night. The next morning Polinski’s mother, Denise Blamberg, found her child dead. 

Reckless homicide charges were filed roughly six months later, after the state crime lab confirmed that the pills Polinski ingested contained the dangerous synthetic opioid Fentanyl rather than a prescription painkiller.

By the time the reckless homicide charges were filed in September 2022, Lariviere and Jones had been arrested after returning to Oneida County following another trip to Green Bay to see their drug vendor.

That trip, in May 2022, took place two weeks after Polinski’s death, a fact that appeared to weigh heavily in determining her sentence.

 It was a key part of assistant district attorney Mary Sowinski’s sentencing statement. 

“She knew that the drugs she sold to Kyle likely caused his death. And was that enough to stop her from going to Green Bay and getting more drugs to bring back to this community and sell again and the answer was no,” Sowinski said. “She took another sales trip. She brought those drugs back here knowing that the drug she sold Kyle killed him. How does this court deal with a person whose mindset is, I don’t care what happened, I don’t care that he’s dead, I am going to try and make more money even if it’s only a few hundred dollars.”

In her victim impact statement, Blamberg told the court Lariviere repeatedly mocked her during the two years of court appearances that precipitated the trial. 

“Her narcissism has been overwhelming,” Blamberg said, noting that Lariviere smirked at her when they would cross paths during court proceedings.

“I don’t find it funny because my son isn’t going to come back and I have a little girl, a granddaughter, who has to live for the rest of her life without her father,” she said.

For his part, defense attorney Antoni Apollo stressed the meaningful changes Lariviere has made since April 2022.

She has maintained sobriety and has been consistently employed over the last two years, he reported.

Apollo also stated that Lariviere has come to realize her relationship with Jones, who is serving a 3 1/2 year sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to his role in Polinski’s death, was toxic. Lariviere is not an “evil” person and has spent the last two years taking significant, productive steps toward making a life that does not include drugs so that she can be a mother to her young child, he argued.

“She has taken proactive steps well before conviction, not to make herself look good in front of the court at the time of sentencing but to put herself in a better position as she moves forward, understanding that she has these issues to be addressed,” he said.

In contrast to his recommendation of four years confinement followed by four years extended supervision, Sowinski argued any sentence of less than 12 years confinement would be unacceptable under the circumstances.

When asked if she wished to address the court, Lariviere turned toward the Polinski family and offered a tearful apology.

“I want to give my deepest and most sincere apology to you all and let you know how truly sorry I am for my involvement in this matter,” she said. “I want you to know that I never intended to cause harm to anybody.”

When it was Overbey’s turn to speak, he stated that he received a number of letters from Lariviere’s friends and family describing her as “loving, caring, hard-working and kind” and noted that Lariviere has portrayed herself “as more or less a bystander to the co-defendant’s actions” when the evidence indicates otherwise.

Many of the letters from her supporters “began with a premise that Ms. Lariviere is not truly responsible for the victim’s death and that she is somehow herself a victim of the co-defendant,” he stated.

The court also referenced statements Lariviere made to the Department of Corrections agent who prepared the pre-sentencing report, statements that he characterized as evidence that she has taken only “superficial” responsibility for her actions and has yet to fully grasp the gravity and implications of the choices she made.

The PSI writer concluded that she’s “more remorseful about the consequences she’s facing than the tragedy she created,” the judge said, adding that members of the victim’s family have suggested she is merely putting on a “front” for sentencing.

Ultimately, as the prosecutor did, Overbey returned to the fact that a death did not stop her from dealing drugs.

“She didn’t stop selling drugs because she caused a young man’s death,” he noted. “She stopped selling drugs because she got caught.”

Finally, Overbey referenced another argument made by Lariviere’s supporters — that she should be spared a long prison sentence because she has a young child.

“Several people that spoke on her behalf asked for a light or even no sentence because she has a young child and the child needs her,” Overbey noted. “Mr. Polinski has a young daughter and she needs him. Ms. Lariviere will at least be able to be part of her child’s life from prison (through programming offered by Taycheedah Correctional Institution), Mr. Polinski won’t have that option.”

“Your child is unfortunate collateral damage but that collateral damage was caused by you, not by the system, by you,” he told Lariviere.

Lariviere will serve a total of 10 years incarceration on the reckless homicide count. After that sentence is complete, she will serve an additional 5 years for possession of fentanyl with intent to deliver. She received a three-year sentence for felony bail jumping but that sentence will be served concurrently to the fentanyl possession count. After her period of confinement ends, she will be placed on extended supervision for 10 years. 

After the hearing, members of the Polinski family told the River News they did not believe Lariviere’s expressions of remorse were sincere and are grateful a lengthy sentence was imposed. They appreciated the judge’s statement acknowledging Kyle’s daughter and indicated their focus now will be on healing.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].