By Shereen Siewert
A sentencing date has been set for a 39-year-old man convicted of manufacturing or delivering heroin in connection with a near-fatal overdose of a Wausau man.
Nicholas Friedrich will be sentenced on the felony charge Nov. 27 in Marathon County Circuit Court. During a plea hearing in September he was also convicted of theft, in a separate case filed one day before the drug charges were filed.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of first degree recklessly endangering safety was dismissed outright. Charges of manufacturing a drug trafficking place and possession of narcotic drugs were dismissed but will be considered at sentencing.
Police were called at 4:39 p.m. April 21 to a residence in the 2500 block of N. Sixth Street in Wausau for a report of a 25-year-old man who witnesses said used a combination of cocaine, heroin and marijuana in the garage and was overdosing, according to court documents. Wausau Fire personnel administered Narcan to the man while at the scene before transporting him to a local hospital for treatment.
Through the course of the investigation, police learned the man allegedly bought heroin several times on the same day from Friedrich before heading to a friend’s house, where he nearly died after injecting the drug.
Police then searched a home where Friedrich had reportedly been staying, in the 1400 block of South 14th Avenue, late the night of April 21. There, they allegedly discovered heroin, drug paraphernalia and information identifying Friedrich. Charges were filed April 24.
Court records show Friedrich was on extended release from a prior theft conviction at the time of his April arrest. His conditional release was subsequently revoked, and Circuit Judge Greg Strasser ordered Friedrich back to prison for a one-year term beginning Sept. 24. He remains in Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun as he awaits sentencing on the latest charges.
