By Shereen Siewert
A 64-year-old Tomahawk woman was sentenced Tuesday to five and a half years in federal prison for her role in a major methamphetamine operation in the northwoods.
Becky L. Peterson was convicted in June of conspiring with 65-year-old Mark Moore, of Peeksville, to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in Ashland County over a period of several years. She was sentenced Dec. 3 by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 66 months in federal prison.
Moore was convicted of the same charge in November 2018 and received the same sentence as Becky Peterson.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Becky Peterson and Mark Moore engaged in a years-long conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from a farm in the Town of Peeksville. Drug investigators with the Wisconsin DOJ Department of Criminal Investigation developed information that the duo was selling methamphetamine from a location known as the “Meth Farm.”
Between Aug. 2017 and June 2018, undercover officers conducted seven controlled buys of methamphetamine from Moore and Peterson totaling more than 60 grams, according to court documents. During the course of these buys, Moore stated that Peterson set the prices and weighed and packaged the methamphetamine for sale.
Moore also stated on several occasions that he needed to confirm with Peterson whether he could give a discount for large quantity sales, court documents state.
June 26, 2018, police searched the farm and recovered approximately 30 grams of methamphetamine and $11,412. Another $2,000 was later recovered from a separate location.
In addition to serving time in prison, the court ordered the forfeiture of the farm property used in distributing the methamphetamine, as well as the $13,412 in cash recovered during the investigation.
In sentencing Peterson, Judge Peterson stated that this was long-term dealing in methamphetamine, which is an epidemic in that part of the state. Judge Peterson told Becky Peterson that while her age and health were mitigating considerations, they were not a free pass to commit crime, and he wasn’t fully confident that she might not re-offend given that she had a past drug trafficking conviction.
