MONROE - A Freeport woman sobbed uncontrollably in Green County Circuit Court Tuesday, Oct. 1, as a judge sentenced her to prison for injecting two young women with heroin in the bathroom of a rural Monroe nightclub almost two years ago.
Jenny Mae Rogers, 29, is ordered to spend two years in prison and four years on extended supervision on the Class G felony conviction of second-degree reckless endangerment. She pleaded guilty to the offense earlier this year. A second count was dismissed but "read in," meaning Judge Thomas Vale could consider it in his sentence.
Roger's sentencing came days after the Department of Justice introduced a Wisconsin-wide public awareness campaign intended to curb what law enforcement officials describe as an "epidemic" of heroin use across the state.
The campaign theme, The Fly Effect, is inspired by the nursery rhyme "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." The rhyme's escalation and spiral "parallels the unexpected and uncontrollable spiral associated with heroin addiction."
District Attorney Gary Luhman described Rogers' addiction to heroin as a downward spiral sparked by a "chaotic and dysfunctional" upbringing, compounded by the loss of a child. One of Rogers' three children died of sudden infant death syndrome while under the father's care, he said.
"I don't think she has dealt with those grief issues," he said. But, "at some point, there's some responsibility that has to be shown."
The case against Rogers dates to Oct. 20, 2011, when medics were called for two unconscious women found in the bathroom at Sir Buk's Dance Club, W2222 County KK.
"Both of them passed out from a combination of alcohol and heroin," Luhman said. Their overdoses were linked to Rogers, who provided the heroin, "assisted both with injecting themselves" and then left the club shortly thereafter.
Since then, Luhman and defense attorney Philip Brehm report Rogers has gotten clean thanks to a boot camp program she completed while in an Illinois prison in 2012. They recommended 60 days in jail and two years of probation for Rogers.
"She's clearly not at the same level of risk she would have been two years ago," Luhman said.
"Further prison is not necessary," Brehm said. Rogers sees her daughters, ages 10 and 7, monthly when she visits the Lafayette County family that adopted them, and "she would like to be a role model, not an embarrassment" to the girls.
Vale didn't agree with the attorneys' recommendation for no prison.
"Someone came within minutes of dying here," he said. Then he ticked off the offenses on Rogers' lengthy criminal record, which includes burglary, theft and several probation revocations.
"It seems in almost every other case, (probation has) been revoked," he said. Giving her probation again would unduly depreciate the seriousness of the offenses, he said.
Rogers cried throughout the hearing but broke down into uncontrollable sobs, tears rolling down her neck, as Vale gave his sentence. Three men came with her to the sentencing, including her grandfather, and she glanced back at them often.
When given a chance to speak to the judge before he read his sentence, she unfolded a yellow legal-size sheet of paper with handwritten notes. She apologized to the victims and their families and said she wanted to show her daughters "everyone has a choice" to do the right thing.
"I made the worst choice of my life," she said.
Jenny Mae Rogers, 29, is ordered to spend two years in prison and four years on extended supervision on the Class G felony conviction of second-degree reckless endangerment. She pleaded guilty to the offense earlier this year. A second count was dismissed but "read in," meaning Judge Thomas Vale could consider it in his sentence.
Roger's sentencing came days after the Department of Justice introduced a Wisconsin-wide public awareness campaign intended to curb what law enforcement officials describe as an "epidemic" of heroin use across the state.
The campaign theme, The Fly Effect, is inspired by the nursery rhyme "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." The rhyme's escalation and spiral "parallels the unexpected and uncontrollable spiral associated with heroin addiction."
District Attorney Gary Luhman described Rogers' addiction to heroin as a downward spiral sparked by a "chaotic and dysfunctional" upbringing, compounded by the loss of a child. One of Rogers' three children died of sudden infant death syndrome while under the father's care, he said.
"I don't think she has dealt with those grief issues," he said. But, "at some point, there's some responsibility that has to be shown."
The case against Rogers dates to Oct. 20, 2011, when medics were called for two unconscious women found in the bathroom at Sir Buk's Dance Club, W2222 County KK.
"Both of them passed out from a combination of alcohol and heroin," Luhman said. Their overdoses were linked to Rogers, who provided the heroin, "assisted both with injecting themselves" and then left the club shortly thereafter.
Since then, Luhman and defense attorney Philip Brehm report Rogers has gotten clean thanks to a boot camp program she completed while in an Illinois prison in 2012. They recommended 60 days in jail and two years of probation for Rogers.
"She's clearly not at the same level of risk she would have been two years ago," Luhman said.
"Further prison is not necessary," Brehm said. Rogers sees her daughters, ages 10 and 7, monthly when she visits the Lafayette County family that adopted them, and "she would like to be a role model, not an embarrassment" to the girls.
Vale didn't agree with the attorneys' recommendation for no prison.
"Someone came within minutes of dying here," he said. Then he ticked off the offenses on Rogers' lengthy criminal record, which includes burglary, theft and several probation revocations.
"It seems in almost every other case, (probation has) been revoked," he said. Giving her probation again would unduly depreciate the seriousness of the offenses, he said.
Rogers cried throughout the hearing but broke down into uncontrollable sobs, tears rolling down her neck, as Vale gave his sentence. Three men came with her to the sentencing, including her grandfather, and she glanced back at them often.
When given a chance to speak to the judge before he read his sentence, she unfolded a yellow legal-size sheet of paper with handwritten notes. She apologized to the victims and their families and said she wanted to show her daughters "everyone has a choice" to do the right thing.
"I made the worst choice of my life," she said.