By Shereen Siewert
A Wausau man was granted a withheld sentence this week for his fifth OWI conviction, a sentence that includes three years of probation and nine months in jail.
Ronald A. Meverden, 61, was charged more than four years ago with fifth-offense operating while intoxicated, possession of narcotic drugs, possession of THC, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of an illegally-obtained prescription and operating with a restricted controlled substance. The charges were filed July 5, 2018 in Marathon County Circuit Court and have just now been resolved.
Online court records show Meverden, who was also charged with bail jumping in June 2022, pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to the felony OWI. As part of a plea agreement, all other charges including the bail jumping charge were dismissed but read into the record at sentencing. Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson ordered the withheld sentence with a jail term to start at Meverden’s probation agent’s discretion.
Meverden was also ordered to undergo alcohol assessment and treatment as deemed appropriate by his agent. The Court also ordered a $600 fine and a half-priced ignition interlock device for Meverden, whose driving privileges will be revoked for three years.
In 2020, the Wisconsin Legislature approved enhanced penalties for a fifth or sixth offense OWI , creating a mandatory minimum of 18 months in prison. But Meverden was charged before the law, which is not retroactive, changed.
In a withheld sentence, defendants can be forced to return to court and be sentenced for their original crime if they are not successful on probation.
