By Shereen Siewert
A 41-year-old man convicted of providing heroin to a Wausau man who overdosed and nearly died will spend at least four years in prison, after he was sentenced this week in Marathon County Circuit Court on drug trafficking charges.
Nicholas Friedrich, of Wausau, appeared Jan. 19 for sentencing on charges of manufacturing or delivering heroin as a repeat offender. The repeat offender enhancer allows judges to add additional penalties at sentencing.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Circuit Judge Greg Strasser ordered the prison term to be followed by 4 1/2 years of extended supervision, according to online court records.
Friedrich has a long criminal history with prior convictions for fleeing an officer, battery, methamphetamine possession, firearms charges, theft and bail jumping, court records show.
Under Wisconsin law, the convicted defendant can be prosecuted as a repeat offender if he or she was convicted of either one or more felonies or three or more misdemeanors during the five years immediately preceding the current criminal conviction, provided the previous convictions had not yet been reversed, vacated, or amended down to a non-criminal charge.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police were called at 4:39 p.m. April 21, 2019 to a home in the 2500 block of N. Sixth Street in Wausau for a report of a 25-year-old man who used cocaine, heroin and marijuana in the garage and was overdosing, according to court documents.
Police learned the man bought heroin several times that day from Friedrich, then went to a friend’s house to inject the heroin, where he nearly died. Wausau Fire personnel administered NARCAN to the man while at the scene before transporting him to a local hospital for treatment.
Police searched a home where Friedrich had reportedly been staying, in the 1400 block of S. 14th Avenue, late the night of April 21, 2019. There, they discovered heroin, drug paraphernalia and information tying Friedrich to the overdose. Charges were filed April 24, 2019.
Friedrich was also sentenced on theft charges in a separate case filed one day earlier, resulting in a four-year prison term. The prison sentences will be served at the same time.
He was granted 134 days credit for time served.
