Area drug task force yields federal convictions
Meth found in Stevens Point, Oshkosh
FOR THE WAUSAU TIMES
WAUSAU – An Arizona man has been sentenced in federal court on charges of running drugs and drug proceeds through portions of central and eastern Wisconsin.
Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, says Levi Bagne, 31, of Buckeye, AZ, was sentenced Oct. 18 by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 16 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine and money laundering. Bagne pleaded guilty to the charges May 24. According to the sentencing memo issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bagne’s drug-trafficking operation was “one of the largest methamphetamine conspiracies seen in the Western District of Wisconsin in recent memory.”
Bagne’s conviction was one of several as part of an investigation led by the FBI’s Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force (CWNTF). The government’s investigation revealed Bagne was the undisputed leader of a large-scale drug trafficking organization responsible for bringing methamphetamine into central Wisconsin from Arizona. Once the methamphetamine was trafficked to Wisconsin, most was being distributed by Bagne’s network in Marathon and Lincoln Counties. During the investigation the CWNTF seized approximately twenty pounds of meth, $104,000 in cash, several vehicles, a residence and fifteen firearms.
On Nov. 12, 2019, and again on Feb. 15, 2020, Bagne and co-defendant Krista Sparks mailed packages containing methamphetamine from Arizona to co-defendant Cory Freyermuth’s residence in Oshkosh. The packages were seized by law enforcement and subsequent searches of the packages revealed a total of six pounds of meth.
On Sept. 2, 2020, agents executed a search warrant on a storage unit in Stevens Point, belonging to Bagne and Freyermuth. During the search, agents recovered an additional ten pounds of meth.
The investigation also revealed that Bagne and Sparks used multiple bank accounts to launder drug proceeds. After selling methamphetamine in Wisconsin, Freyermuth returned the drug proceeds to Bagne in Arizona. Bagne then devised a plan which allowed Freyermuth to deposit cashier’s checks into Sparks’ bank accounts. The investigation revealed Bagne and Sparks played an active role in setting up the accounts and withdrawing proceeds.
Bagne was arrested May 26, 2021 at his home in Arizona, where federal agents found a safe containing $40,050 in cash, nine firearms, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
In total, this case led to eight indictments of conspirators and significant sentencing across the board. Freyermuth will spend eight years in federal custody, and Sparks two-and-a-half years. Matthew White was given fourteen years, Jacob Willcox twelve years, and T.J. Myers eleven years in federal custody. Amy Pehlke is due to be sentenced in December. An eighth co-conspirator has been indicted, but not yet convicted.
Member agencies of the CWNTF were aided by the Marathon County District Attorney’s Office throughout the months-long investigation.