MONROE - A former Brodhead man released from the Rock County jail Tuesday, Oct. 29, will remain on probation three years for convictions in Green County of helping escaped prisoners burglarize homes to recoup money he lost in an Internet scam.
Ronald Mark Goodman, Sr., 57, was sentenced earlier this month by Green County Judge Thomas Vale to three years of probation. He is also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Goodman finished a five-month jail sentence Tuesday morning for a worthless checks case in Rock County, a jail supervisor confirmed.
In a plea resolution in Green County, Goodman pleaded guilty to two of three Class I felony counts of harboring and aiding a felon and no contest to a misdemeanor count of receiving/concealing stolen property. Not-guilty pleas were accepted on felony burglary charges and a misdemeanor theft charge.
Court records show no criminal record for Goodman prior to 2011. He tangles with the law began as his marriage broke up, his construction business sank into debt and he lost up to $200,000 to Internet scammers who posed as potential lovers.
In what is described as a "Nigerian scam," Goodman met foreign women online through the dating site alt.com and eventually started sending money to their "lawyers" to help them come to the U.S., allegedly to be his "sex slaves."
The burglaries happened in May 2012, just weeks before he robbed a Fitchburg convenience store at gunpoint using a shoplifted BB gun. He was convicted of that offense last November and faced up to 40 years in prison but spent only seven months in jail, after the Dane County judge hearing the case received positive letters about Goodman from community members, including three ministers.
Goodman allowed three jail escapees to stay in his Albany home after they escaped from the Rock County Jail while out on work release. Court records indicate he let them drive his red 2000 Chevy pickup truck to burglarize homes in the region, then used his skid-steer loader to move two stolen safes and hide them in a brushy area on his ex-wife's property near Brodhead. In exchange, the trio promised him a $3,000 cut of the burglary loot.
One of the men, 26-year-old Brandon J. Disrud, has since been convicted of the burglaries and is in an Illinois prison for other offenses. Charges are still pending against the other two men, Nicholas Jay Batzler, 34, and Brandon Lee Garecht, 24. All three have lengthy criminal records.
Goodman met Disrud through a church when a pastor asked him to "mentor" the younger man, according to statements Goodman made to an investigator.
The Green County burglaries were of residences in the W8100 block of Apple Grove Road in rural Argyle, W6300 block of Illiff Road in Monroe Township and W5900 block of Melvin Road in Clarno Township.
In all, $12,400 worth of belongings were stolen, including jewelry, valuable coins, a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol and a pair of Swarovski binoculars.
In a letter to the court, one of the burglary victims wrote that the burglaries "put us through hell" and asked the judge to give the maximum sentence.
The burglaries "made us paranoid about leaving the house for long, even with the new alarm system we installed. We are afraid to go on vacation together for fear of a break-in," the resident wrote.
"We don't even go out and work in the yard without locking the house and keeping a key in our pocket. It also traumatized our pets. They are afraid of any loud or unusual noises now.
"We also have pain and heartache for all the sentimental items that were stolen and can never be replaced."
Ronald Mark Goodman, Sr., 57, was sentenced earlier this month by Green County Judge Thomas Vale to three years of probation. He is also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Goodman finished a five-month jail sentence Tuesday morning for a worthless checks case in Rock County, a jail supervisor confirmed.
In a plea resolution in Green County, Goodman pleaded guilty to two of three Class I felony counts of harboring and aiding a felon and no contest to a misdemeanor count of receiving/concealing stolen property. Not-guilty pleas were accepted on felony burglary charges and a misdemeanor theft charge.
Court records show no criminal record for Goodman prior to 2011. He tangles with the law began as his marriage broke up, his construction business sank into debt and he lost up to $200,000 to Internet scammers who posed as potential lovers.
In what is described as a "Nigerian scam," Goodman met foreign women online through the dating site alt.com and eventually started sending money to their "lawyers" to help them come to the U.S., allegedly to be his "sex slaves."
The burglaries happened in May 2012, just weeks before he robbed a Fitchburg convenience store at gunpoint using a shoplifted BB gun. He was convicted of that offense last November and faced up to 40 years in prison but spent only seven months in jail, after the Dane County judge hearing the case received positive letters about Goodman from community members, including three ministers.
Goodman allowed three jail escapees to stay in his Albany home after they escaped from the Rock County Jail while out on work release. Court records indicate he let them drive his red 2000 Chevy pickup truck to burglarize homes in the region, then used his skid-steer loader to move two stolen safes and hide them in a brushy area on his ex-wife's property near Brodhead. In exchange, the trio promised him a $3,000 cut of the burglary loot.
One of the men, 26-year-old Brandon J. Disrud, has since been convicted of the burglaries and is in an Illinois prison for other offenses. Charges are still pending against the other two men, Nicholas Jay Batzler, 34, and Brandon Lee Garecht, 24. All three have lengthy criminal records.
Goodman met Disrud through a church when a pastor asked him to "mentor" the younger man, according to statements Goodman made to an investigator.
The Green County burglaries were of residences in the W8100 block of Apple Grove Road in rural Argyle, W6300 block of Illiff Road in Monroe Township and W5900 block of Melvin Road in Clarno Township.
In all, $12,400 worth of belongings were stolen, including jewelry, valuable coins, a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol and a pair of Swarovski binoculars.
In a letter to the court, one of the burglary victims wrote that the burglaries "put us through hell" and asked the judge to give the maximum sentence.
The burglaries "made us paranoid about leaving the house for long, even with the new alarm system we installed. We are afraid to go on vacation together for fear of a break-in," the resident wrote.
"We don't even go out and work in the yard without locking the house and keeping a key in our pocket. It also traumatized our pets. They are afraid of any loud or unusual noises now.
"We also have pain and heartache for all the sentimental items that were stolen and can never be replaced."