WAUSAU — Four people are facing felony drug charges following the fourth major Marathon County Special Investigations Unit investigation within the past two weeks.
Jessica Smith, 28, Anthony Clark, 34, Max Brummer, 28, and Sanja Ermeling, 29, were all arrested in the sting, police said.
Children were living in the home and were within reach of some of the drugs seized, police said.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police on Thursday searched a home in the 700 block of 10th Street, where they confiscated about 72 grams of methamphetamine, a handgun, nearly $2,000 in cash, syringes filled with liquid meth, about 18 grams of marijuana, prescription muscle relaxers, scales and other paraphernalia.
All four suspects appeared in Marathon County Circuit Court on Monday.
Brummer faces charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on a $1,500 signature bond.
Smith faces charges of possession of amphetamine with intent to deliver, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia to manufacture, compound, convert, produce, or store methamphetamine, child neglect, bail jumping and possession of drug paraphernalia. The combined charges carry a maximum penalty of more than 52 years in prison. She is being held in the Marathon County Jail on a $1,500 cash bond. A preliminary hearing is set for July 12.
Clark, who has a long criminal history and was already out on bond at the time of his arrest, faces charges of possession of a firearm as a felon, possession of amphetamine with intent to deliver, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia to manufacture, compound, convert, produce, or store methamphetamine, bail jumping and possession of marijuana, court records show. He is now jailed on a $10,000 cash bond and will next appear in court on Thursday for a bail hearing. If convicted on all charges, Clark faces more than 50 years in prison.
Ermeling faces charges of maintaining a drug trafficking place, possession of an illegally obtained prescription, possession of amphetamine with intent to deliver, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia to manufacture, compound, convert, produce, or store methamphetamine, bail jumping and possession of drug paraphernalia. Her charges carry a maxim 19-year prison term if she is convicted. Ermeling, who is being held on a $1,000 cash bond, is due in court July 11 for a review hearing, according to online court records.
In a separate case, Ermeling faces accusations of child neglect after investigators tested the hair of a 4-year-old child and found the child had been recently and repeatedly exposed to meth, possibly through passive smoke inhalation, according to a Wausau Police Department report. Those accusations stem from a May arrest on theft and meth possession charges for which Ermeling had been released on a signature bond. The child was not living with Ermeling when she was arrested on Thursday, and had already been placed with relatives.
Last week, the SIU, in cooperation with Wausau Police Department and North Central Drug Enforcement Group (NORDEG) investigators, made three arrests in Wausau in connection with the distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana in Marathon and Oneida Counties. None of the cases appear to be related.
The Special Investigations Unit is a multi-agency team with investigators from the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department, Wausau Police Department and the Everest Metropolitan Police Department. The primary function of the unit is the investigation of controlled substance crimes within Marathon County .
