Investigation tracked 7,500 grams of heroin in three counties
Charles D. Hall, 31, Waupaca, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for distributing heroin.
Hall appeared before U.S. District Judge William M. Conley on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Plover Police Detective Brian Neal told the Stevens Point City Times that Hill was “one of the top-tier guys” involved in a drug ring that authorities investigated for more than a year.
Noel, Stevens Point Detective Mike Schultz and Portage County Sheriff’s Investigator Tony Gischia began working together on “Operation: Who’s the Boss” after they noticed links among heroin investigations throughout Portage County in May 2014.
Over the next 15 months, Noel, Schultz and Gischia, along with the Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force and the state Division of Criminal Investigation, identified 32 drug dealers and tracked 7.5 kilograms of heroin delivered to Portage, Wood and Waupaca counties between May 2014 and August 2015.
Investigators conducted 36 undercover drug buys of approximately 33 grams of heroin valued at about $16,500, the City Times reported.
On the morning of Aug. 27, 2015, Plover and Waupaca police executed a search warrant at Hall’s home on the 600 block of West Union Street in Waupaca. Hall was taken into custody.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on Aug. 28, 2015, a Waupaca police officer was patrolling Union Street when he noticed that Hall’s empty house was burning. Waupaca firefighters were called out to the fire.
The lower level and attic were the most severely damaged by flames. There was smoke damage throughout the interior of the house and extensive damage to the house.
The fire is still under investigation as a possible arson.
On June 10, Hall pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Madison to a felony charge of distributing heroin.
Hall is the eighth defendant that Conley has sentenced in connection with “Operation: Who’s the Boss.” He has also received the longest prison term.
Conley said he imposed this lengthy sentence after finding that Hall was responsible for distributing 2.8 kilograms of heroin and that he was a “manager or supervisor” of criminal activity involving five or more persons.
Conley also found that Hall was more culpable than the previously sentenced defendants.
Sentences for other defendants who were arrested as part of the operation included:
• Jan. 21 – Cody Thompson, 24 New Hope, 2 1/2 years in prison for distributing heroin.
• Feb. 2 – Megan Pray Genett, 21, Belmont, two years for distributing heroin.
• March 8 – Marguerite “Beth” Tompkins, 24, Stevens Point, five years for conspiring to distribute heroin.
• March 22 – Kristy Dietel, 35, Stevens Point, three years for conspiring to distribute heroin.
• April 15 – Tiffany A. Bell, 25, Plover, 11 1/2 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute heroin.
• April 22 – Gregory D. Richardson, 26, Plover, 10 years for conspiring to distribute heroin.
• April 30 – Hannah J. Hovick, 24, Marshfield, 2 1/2 years for distributing heroin.
A related Jan. 27 indictment charges three other men — Hurley C. Jackson, 33, Terrance D. Jackson, 29, and DeWight S. Williams, 37, all of Milwaukee — with conspiring to distribute more than 1,000 grams of heroin, as well as distributing heroin and possessing heroin with the intent to distribute. Their trial on this indictment is scheduled for Jan. 23, 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea is prosecuting these cases.