Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that 35-year-old Nicole Elsholtz of Merrill was sentenced on Feb. 16, 2023, to three years in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson. Elsholtz pleaded guilty to this charge on March 14, 2022.
The government’s investigation revealed that Elsholtz purchased large amounts of methamphetamine from co-defendant Levi Bagne between July 2019 and June 2020. Bagne and co-defendant Krista Sparks routinely mailed packages containing methamphetamine from Arizona to co-defendant Cory Freyermuth in Oshkosh, Wis. Once Bagne let her know that the methamphetamine had arrived, Elsholtz would drive to Oshkosh and get it from Freyermuth. After driving back to Merrill, Elsholtz sold the methamphetamine to a variety of customers.
Bagne, Freyermuth, and Sparks pleaded guilty to participating in this methamphetamine distribution scheme and were sentenced by Judge Peterson to 16 years, 8 ½ years, and 2 ½ years, respectively.
The charge against Elsholtz is the result of a joint investigation by the Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration, Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan unit, and Merrill Police Department. The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner handled the prosecution.