MAN GETS PROBATION FOR SHIPPING POT

A Baraboo man will serve 12 months of probation after investigators
say he had 25 pounds of pot shipped to him from Texas.

William J. Larsen, 51, also will spend 30 days in jail plus 30 months
of probation for a more recent pot possession count after his
sentencing Wednesday. Larsen appeared in Sauk County Circuit Court on
a count of felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver based
on an incident in March 2006. He also faced a misdemeanor pot
possession charge stemming from an arrest in June.

According to court records, on March 17, 2006, the Sauk County
Sheriff's Department was tipped off about a package of drugs on its
way from Weslaco, Texas, to a residence in Sumpter. Officers from the
Sauk County Drug Task Force intercepted about 25 pounds of marijuana
worth about $25,000 on a package delivery flight at the
Baraboo/Wisconsin Dells Airport.

Officers followed the package to its destination and arrested Larsen
and Denise R. Wirts, 45, at the rural town of Sumpter residence where
they lived at the time, the records show.

In court Wednesday, the felony marijuana possession count was reduced
to a misdemeanor under an agreement with the Sauk County prosecutor.
Larsen pleaded no contest to that count and the pot possession charge
from his arrest in June.

The judge sentenced him to 12 months on probation for the first count
and 30 days in jail plus 30 months probation for the more recent
charge. Larsen also must undergo drug and alcohol treatment, the judge
ordered.

In August, the court sentenced Wirts to 30 months of probation and
ordered her to undergo drug and alcohol treatment.

Under Wisconsin law, if either Larsen or Wirts violates probation
rules or commits new crimes, their probation can be revoked and they
can be brought back to court for sentencing to jail or prison time.