O’Kimosh gets three years for stealing rifle

GREEN BAY — A Shawano man who stole a .22 rifle from his uncle to trade for methamphetamine was sentenced Thursday in federal court to three years in prison and three years’ supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Brett L. O’Kimosh Jr., 42, was indicted with Mary Ann Dodge, 33, of Shawano, and Anthony J. Boyd, 22, formerly of Green Bay, for burglary, and O’Kimosh and Boyd were also indicted for felon in possession of a firearm in connection with a May 16, 2018, incident in Keshena.

According to O’Kimosh’s attorney Krista Halla-Valdes, O’Kimosh and his two co-defendants, all addicts, wanted to get drugs but had no money. O’Kimosh knew his uncle had a gun that he could steal so he suggested driving to his uncle’s home. O’Kimosh and Boyd went in the home. O’Kimosh did not expect his aunt to be there.

O’Kimosh and Boyd were chased out of the house after O’Kimosh’s aunt confronted him. Boyd had already taken some golf clubs from the garage and put them in the vehicle. While O’Kimosh’s aunt followed them out to the garage, Boyd grabbed a chainsaw, but O’Kimosh told him to put it back, which Boyd did.

Boyd knew someone in Neopit who would take the gun in exchange for drugs and the three co-defendants drove there. The gun was exchanged for methamphetamine and synthetic marijuana which they all used. O’Kimosh likely possessed the gun for less than one hour.

A relative reportedly chased O’Kimosh and Boyd out of the house and called the police.

After being arrested, O’Kimosh sent his uncle a letter apologizing for his offense. O’Kimosh plans to pay his uncle for the cost of the gun and appreciate the continued support of his uncle.

O’Kimosh had a prior drug conviction and faced an advisory guideline sentence of 41-51 months in prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Maier considered O’Kimosh most responsible for the three co-defendants and recommended a sentence slightly below the guideline range to achieve parity with the sentences of his co-defendants.

Halla-Valdes sought an 18-24 month sentence. She wrote the court that although burglary is a serious offense O’Kimosh committed it in daytime and without breaking into a home. It involved a relative, which is a betrayal, but that decreases the level of fear that normally would accompany a burglary of an occupied residence.

“To sum it up in one sentence: this was addicts looking for something to steal to be able to get a fix,” Halla-Valdes wrote.

All three co-defendants pleaded guilty to burglary charges last year. Dodge received a four-month sentence in August, and Boyd was sentenced to 18 months.

O’Kimosh was to be sentenced on Jan. 6 but was delayed as he had been charged in Shawano County Circuit Court with a child sex offense.

On Jan. 28, O’Kimosh pleaded no contest to child enticement-sexual contact and Circuit Court Judge James Habeck withheld sentence and placed O’Kimosh on four years’ probation with a condition of jail time deemed served at 346 days in custody.