DARLINGTON — A Shullsburg man who racked up eight criminal cases in Lafayette County in less than two years, mostly related to domestic abuse and his use of meth, was sentenced last month to 18 months in jail and three years on probation. 

Shawn Michael Ryan, 36, pleaded no contest June 4 to felony charges of burglary, bail jumping and possessing drug paraphernalia related to methamphetamine, along with misdemeanor charges including battery, making threats via computer message and violating a restraining order. Related charges including trespassing were dismissed.

During his jail time and probation, he’s ordered to complete domestic violence counseling and drug treatment court programming or intensive outpatient drug treatment. He’s also prohibited from drinking alcohol or consuming illegal substances.

Ryan had no criminal record in Wisconsin prior to 2018. He was previously sentenced to probation for a misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction last year, but that probation was revoked.

“Mr. Ryan, you don’t have the record but by God you’re close to it,” Judge Duane Jorgenson said, referring to the number of cases Ryan accumulated in a short time. “Over and over again” the court tried to get Ryan to follow the rules by setting high cash bails, only to have Ryan break his bail conditions.

“I think there needs to be significant jail time,” Jorgenson said, “because I have to drive home to you, no matter what it takes, that when there are rules in place ... the only way you’re going to be successful is you’re going to have to live with structure and you’re going to have to live with the fact that people are telling you what you can and cannot do.”

Ryan had not yet received drug treatment, but he needed it to resolve issues he’s faced “at the hands of addiction,” Jorgenson said.

“One of the things that I am convinced of is all the evidence indicates that methamphetamine ... doesn’t really leave your body for 18 months,” Jorgenson said.

The charges against Ryan stem from multiple altercations and drug-related activity over the past year in Shullsburg.

Court records indicate Ryan harassed his fiancée over money issues related to high hospital bills from the birth of their daughter, including calling and texting her nonstop and threatening to burn her residence and wring her neck.

Following one arrest last fall, he told officers he wasn’t going to act on his threats but was upset that she wouldn’t let him see his child. During the arrest, officers found meth on Ryan as he tried to hide it.

In February, following another altercation, court records indicate the woman told police Ryan punched her in the nose when she refused to take him to buy drugs.