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Benton man pleads no contest to drug charges
Theodore Kieler
Theodore Kieler

DARLINGTON — A 61-year-old Benton man will be sentenced March 22 on eight Lafayette County drug-related charges.

Theodore Charles Kieler pleaded no contest March 2 to party to manufacture or delivery of 3 to 10 grams of amphetamine, party to possession with intent of 10 to 50 grams amphetamine, party to maintaining a drug trafficking place, and felony bail jumping — charges dating back to a purchase of 7.39 grams of methamphetamine and two other people Nov. 18.

Two additional felony bail jumping charges were dismissed.

Kieler also pleaded no contest March 2 to four charges dating back to an April 16 search of Evergreen Village Mobile Home Park in the Town of Belmont — possession with intent of up to 3 grams of amphetamine, party to maintaining a drug trafficking place, party to manufacture of delivery of 3 to 10 grams amphetamine, and party to manufacture or delivery of up to 3 grams amphetamine. 

Charges of possession of meth paraphernalia and resisting or obstructing an officer were dismissed.

Kieler and two other people — David Michael Hudnut, 42, Benton, and Miranda Jean Muchow, 28, Dickeyville — were arrested after a late November search of a rural Benton property led to an investigation of methamphetamine sales.

Hudnut was sentenced to three years in prison Feb. 17 after he pleaded guilty to party to manufacture or delivery of up to 3 grams of amphetamine, party to manufacture or delivery of 3 to 10 grams amphetamine, party to maintaining a drug trafficking place, possession of intent of 10 to 50 grams amphetamine, and felony bail jumping. Three additional felony bail jumping counts were dismissed.

Muchow pleaded not guilty Jan. 26 to party to delivering methamphetamine, party to maintaining a drug-trafficking place, party to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, and two counts of felony bail jumping. 

A scheduling conference is set for Friday. Muchow is free on $2,000 signature bond.

The search warrant following the Nov. 18 purchase found 46.8 grams of methamphetamine, smoking devices, syringes, ammunition, shotguns, a digital scale, phones and plastic bags.

Hudnut was sentenced Feb. 15 to eight years in prison and five years extended supervision after he pleaded no contest to Iowa County charges of delivering methamphetamine and in possession of amphetamine, LSD or psilocin dating back to September 2018.

Green County and Lafayette County deputies and the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force executed the warrant April 16 at about 6:30 a.m. on the trailer at 30972 County XX, Lot 318, and arrested Kieler.

Becky Jo Wunderlin, 39, Platteville, also faces two felony charges of party to delivering 3 to 10 grams of methamphetamine and party to maintaining a drug-trafficking place along with a misdemeanor bail jumping. 

Lafayette County Circuit Judge Duane Jorgenson denied Wunderlin’s motion to dismiss the charges Feb. 15. Another hearing is scheduled for Thursday. A scheduling conference is set for May 4.

The home did not have an active meth lab, according to Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill. The charges “stem from the investigation that confirmed he was purchasing and redistributing” the drug.

Another occupant of the residence, Susan A. Redfearn, 49, was detained and later released. 

Redfearn then was charged in Iowa County with misdemeanor bail jumping for an incident June 20. A plea/sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 24.

Redfearn, who now lives in Cuba City, was charged separately in Grant County with possession of methamphetamine for an incident Oct. 31. Redfearn pleaded not guilty to the charge Dec. 9. 

A jury trial is scheduled for April 27 or May 4, with a status conference March 17. She is free on $1,000 signature bond. 

Redfearn also has a pending Iowa County disorderly conduct charge. A motion hearing is set for March 24.