A 31-year-old Platteville woman was bound over for trial in Grant County Circuit Court in connection with a 2022 death.
Tiffany Ann Chandler is charged with first-degree reckless homicide by manufacture, distribution or delivery of controlled substances in connection with the death of Dustin Dean, 36, Platteville, who was found dead in a Platteville hotel Feb. 5, 2022.
Chandler then stood mute, and a not-guilty plea was entered on her behalf May 26, according to court records.
A status conference will be held Oct. 14. She faces up to 40 years in prison and $100,000 fine if convicted.
Chandler was arrested after a traffic stop and brief chase on U.S. 151 that ended with her arrest on Iowa County A May 2.
Chandler was arrested on a Grant County felony warrant issued Dec. 18 as well as a felony warrant through the state Department of Corrections for probation violations, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Chandler also faces Iowa County charges of second- or subsequent-offense possession of narcotic drugs, vehicle operator fleeing or eluding an officer as a repeat offender, alcohol or controlled substance-related operating after revocation, and possession of drug paraphernalia are being referred to the Iowa County district attorney.
An adjourned initial appearance on the Iowa County charges is scheduled for Sept. 15. Chandler faces up to 12 years in prison on the fleeing charge and up to 7½ years in prison on the drug charge.
Mineral Point police and the Wisconsin State Patrol assisted the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office.
The Grant County criminal complaint said an autopsy revealed that Dean died of a mixed-drug toxicity overdose.
The criminal complaint said several text messages between Dean and Chandler revealed that Dean was going to get heroin “D” from Chandler at a Platteville bar the night of Feb. 4–5, 2022.
According to the criminal complaint, Chandler’s presence in the bar was determined through text messages with another person.
Dean returned to the hotel around 12:20 a.m. Dean’s body was discovered after a housekeeper tried to get into the room 11 hours later but the room was dead-bolt locked.
The criminal complaint said a mix of heroin and fentanyl was found loose and in a baggie underneath Dean’s body. The DNA of Chandler and two other people was found in the baggie.
The state of Dean’s body suggested “ingesting drugs was one of the first things he did when he got to his hotel room,” according to the criminal complaint.
A Platteville police news release said the case “underscores the extreme dangers associated with fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, which continue to pose a significant threat to our community.”
Chandler faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the homicide charge.
Chandler was placed on three years probation including 120 days in jail in Iowa County in September 2024 after she pleaded no contest to possession of methamphetamine as a repeat offender and resisting or obstructing an officer as a repeat offender, for an incident in February 2024. Charges of second- or subsequent offense possession of marijuana, operating after revocation (refusal) and felony bail jumping as a repeat offender were dismissed but read in for sentencing, according to court documents.
Chandler was placed on three years probation in lieu of 18 months in jail and 18 months extended supervision in September 2024 after she pleaded no contest in Grant County to two counts of manufacture and delivery of up to 3 grams methamphetamine for an incident in September 2022, and party to manufacture or delivery of 10 to 50 grams methamphetamine as a repeat offender, and possession of narcotic drugs for an incident in January 2024, according to court records.
Chandler was placed on two years probation in Dane County in 2023 after she pleaded guilty to possession of narcotic drugs, according to court records.