MONROE - A former Green County Jail inmate pleaded no contest Wednesday to charges of smuggling drugs into jail and contributing to the death of a 17-year-old inmate.
Danny Douglas Mitchell II, 45, formerly of Montello and currently in the custody of the Rock County Jail, was found guilty of a Class D felony count of intentionally contributing to the fatal delinquency of a minor and a Class I felony count of delivering contraband to an inmate after he entered into a plea agreement Wednesday.
As part of his plea agreement, a Class C felony count of first-degree reckless homicide was dismissed, and repeater modifiers were dropped from his remaining charges.
Mitchell was charged in March 2015 after a two-year-long investigation into the death of Kyle Peotter of Freeport, who was found dead in the Green County Jail on Jan. 30, 2013 after a methadone overdose.
Mitchell, who was the only other inmate in Peotter's cellblock, was accused of delivering Peotter the methadone that killed him, having apparently not been strip-searched upon his admission to the jail on a probation hold two days prior. State law dictates that non-sentenced prisoners are not strip-searched.
Surveillance footage of the night of Peotter's death showed Mitchell and Peotter passing an unknown substance or object between each other in the pages of a book and inhaling an unknown substance. Peotter also was seen taking a pill after repeatedly vomiting the night of his death.
Mitchell also was seen flushing an item down the cell's toilet after discovering Peotter's unresponsive body.
Assistant Green County District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl and Mitchell's attorney, John Smerlinski, offered a joint sentencing recommendation of 12.5 years for the Class D count, with five of those years to be spent in prison, and the remainder under extended supervision. Sentencing on the Class I count would be withheld on the condition that Mitchell serve three years of probation.
Judge Thomas Vale ordered a pre-sentencing investigation to determine the appropriate sentence. The results of that investigation will be determined March 8.
If sentenced to the maximum possible extent of his charges, Mitchell faces 16.5 years in prison.
Danny Douglas Mitchell II, 45, formerly of Montello and currently in the custody of the Rock County Jail, was found guilty of a Class D felony count of intentionally contributing to the fatal delinquency of a minor and a Class I felony count of delivering contraband to an inmate after he entered into a plea agreement Wednesday.
As part of his plea agreement, a Class C felony count of first-degree reckless homicide was dismissed, and repeater modifiers were dropped from his remaining charges.
Mitchell was charged in March 2015 after a two-year-long investigation into the death of Kyle Peotter of Freeport, who was found dead in the Green County Jail on Jan. 30, 2013 after a methadone overdose.
Mitchell, who was the only other inmate in Peotter's cellblock, was accused of delivering Peotter the methadone that killed him, having apparently not been strip-searched upon his admission to the jail on a probation hold two days prior. State law dictates that non-sentenced prisoners are not strip-searched.
Surveillance footage of the night of Peotter's death showed Mitchell and Peotter passing an unknown substance or object between each other in the pages of a book and inhaling an unknown substance. Peotter also was seen taking a pill after repeatedly vomiting the night of his death.
Mitchell also was seen flushing an item down the cell's toilet after discovering Peotter's unresponsive body.
Assistant Green County District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl and Mitchell's attorney, John Smerlinski, offered a joint sentencing recommendation of 12.5 years for the Class D count, with five of those years to be spent in prison, and the remainder under extended supervision. Sentencing on the Class I count would be withheld on the condition that Mitchell serve three years of probation.
Judge Thomas Vale ordered a pre-sentencing investigation to determine the appropriate sentence. The results of that investigation will be determined March 8.
If sentenced to the maximum possible extent of his charges, Mitchell faces 16.5 years in prison.