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Former deputy accused of stealing drugs headed to trial
Source: Portage Daily Register click here
By Shannon Green

MONTELLO — A former Marquette County sheriff's deputy accused of stealing drugs from an evidence storage room is headed to trial on a second set of charges.

Marquette County Circuit Court Judge Richard O. Wright ruled Tuesday that there is enough evidence to continue a second case against Daniel P. Card, 31.

The state attorney general's office in May filed new charges against Card based on evidence that he took drugs, including narcotics, cocaine and marijuana, on April 29, 2007, from the evidence room at the sheriff's department, according to a criminal complaint. The charges are similar to those filed previously against him, stemming from alleged incidents in May 2007.

Jeff Gabrisiak and Dennis Krueger, assistant attorneys general with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, are special prosecutors in both cases, because Card worked for the sheriff's department.

Card faces charges of felony burglary and possession of narcotic drugs; and misdemeanor possession of cocaine, theft, and entry into a locked room.

In March, a deputy discovered in the department's records room an empty prescription bottle, stored as evidence for a 2006 case. That led to an investigation into other items missing from the department's evidence room, according to the criminal complaint.

During the investigation, deputies discovered a second empty prescription bottle, three empty evidence bags and a dated receipt from April 29, 2007, in the back of a filing cabinet containing records from 1995, the complaint stated.

The bottle and bags were labeled as evidence in cases from 1996, 1997 and 2006, and contained narcotic pills, cocaine and marijuana, according to the complaint. The receipt was from an April 29, 2007, purchase from the Montello Mart with a debit card later identified as Card's.

Card pleaded not guilty in April to charges filed in December: two counts of felony burglary, one count of misdemeanor theft, felony possession of narcotic drugs without a prescription and misdemeanor possession of cocaine or crack cocaine.

The criminal complaint in that case alleges Card removed 59 tablets of oxycodone and a small amount of crack cocaine, on or before May 12, 2007, that was held as evidence in the storage room at the Marquette County Sheriff's Department. The complaint also alleges that one week later Card again entered the storage room with the intent to steal drugs.

Two witnesses for the prosecution testifed Tuesday, including Chief Deputy Joe Konrath. Konrath was the investigator in each of the original cases from which Card allegedly stole drugs.

Konrath testified that he tested the drugs as part of the initial investigations in previous years. On cross-examination, he testified that he was directly linked with all of the initial cases from which the drug evidence was taken.

Konrath also testified that only three people other than himself are authorized to enter the locked evidence room: the sheriff and two investigators. However, he said, 12 people had keys in early 2007. Card did not have a key, Konrath testified.

Card resigned from the department June 1, 2007, after beginning work with the department as a correctional officer in the jail in November 2005.

An arraignment on the second case is scheduled for July 23.

Dean Strang of Madison, Card's defense attorney, said he expects Card to plea not guilty to the second set of charges.

The trial for the charges filed in December is Sept. 9-10, but the dates could change, as the two sets of charges will likely be tried together. That trial could take three days.

If he is found guilty of the new charges, Card faces up to 11 and a half years in prison and $60,000 in fines, in addition to a maximum of 31 years in prison and fines of up to $80,000 for the charges filed in December.