Two men who both spent time in state prison are now in Waupaca County jail, facing felony heroin charges.
Rayshon M. Ferguson, 32, Appleton, is charged with possession of heroin with intent to deliver, aiding a felon, fleeing an officer and obstructing an officer.
Brent O. Katherine, 33, Menasha, is charged with possession of heroin with intent to deliver and obstructing an officer.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, Wisconsin State Trooper Kendi Linjer was running stationary radar on U.S. Highway 10 by County Trunk X in Weyauwega.
She observed a white Cadillac Escalade coming up the hill at 78 mph in a 65 mph zone and made a traffic stop.
The driver was identified as Ferguson and his passenger as Katherine.
According to the criminal complaint, Linjer noticed the aroma of marijuana and asked if they had been smoking. She said if they admitted to smoking pot, she would just issue a citation, and they could drive away.
“There was hesitation by the front seat passenger and then he said he wasn’t looking for trouble. Trooper Linjer called for backup,” the complaint says.
After Fremont Officer Andrew Bauer and Deputy Pat Gorchals arrived at the scene, Linjer told the two men to exit the vehicle. She then heard the doors lock and the driver rolled up his window.
Linjer grabbed the driver’s side door handle, but it was locked. She knocked on the window and told the driver to roll it down. Linjer reported seeing the two men inside the car having a heated argument.
As the vehicle pulled away onto U.S. 10, Gorchals shattered the passenger’s side window with his baton. Bauer, who had remained in his squad car, pursued immediately and the other officers ran to their squad cars and followed.
The Escalade then turned into the Evanswood Village parking lot and stopped. Katherine exited the car and began walking toward Linjer with his hands in the air. Ferguson held his hands out the window while Gorchals held him at gunpoint. Both men were taken to jail.
Linjer found a bag of marijuana in the center console and $950 in cash in the front seat. Another $620 was found on Ferguson.
Deputy Mike Rill, a Waupaca County corrections officer, reported that three small plastic bags fell out of Katherine’s pants.
The chalky tan and gray substance found in the bags tested positive for heroin.
The heroin officers reported finding on Ferguson weighed a total of 32 grams. A single dose of heroin typically weighs one-tenth of a gram.
When questioned, Katherine denied that the heroin was his or that the bags had been in his pants, the complaint says.
Katherine was convicted of substantial battery, two counts of misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct in July 2013 in Outagamie County and sentenced to one year in prison and two years of extended supervision.
He was convicted of substantial battery in Outagamie County in May 2013 and sentenced to one year in prison and three years of extended supervision.
Katherine was convicted of delivery of cocaine in 2010 in Winnebago County and placed on three years of probation.
Ferguson was convicted of two counts of delivery of cocaine in September 2003 and placed on five years of probation.
His probation was revoked in March 2009, and he was sentenced to three years in state prison.
Both men remain in Waupaca County jail after judge Raymond Huber set a $5,000 cash bail as a condition of their release.