Former Green Bay Packer and Wisconsin Badger player facing new charges in Marathon County
WAUSAU − A former Green Bay Packers player charged in January with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and second-offense drunken driving is facing new felony charges in Marathon County.
William J. Ferrario, 44, of Wausau, faces new charges of stalking, intimidating a victim and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping. Marathon County Circuit Judge Michael Moran authorized a warrant for Ferrario when the District Attorney's Office filed the charges Tuesday.
Ferrario was a guard for the Wisconsin Badgers in 1999 and 2000 when they won back-to-back Rose Bowls. The Green Bay Packers drafted him in the fourth round in 2001. He played for the Packers through the 2002 season. The Packers released him in 2003.
According to the original criminal complaint, on Jan. 2, Ferrario caused a disturbance in his Wausau home by intentionally bumping into a person and not letting the person by. Police responded and took Ferrario to a hotel for the evening, but he returned the next day. When Ferrario found the home's doors locked and learned he couldn't get in, he got angry and caused a disturbance in the garage, according to the complaint.
Police arrested Ferrario and took him to the Marathon County Jail. He entered not guilty pleas to disorderly conduct and second-offense drunken driving charges on Jan. 4. Marathon County Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson set a $1,500 signature bond for Ferrario with conditions that included not having contact with the listed victims in the case.
According to the criminal complaint in the new case, on Feb. 27, a victim in the first case contacted an officer and said Ferrario had been trying to contact her for two weeks. She blocked his phone number, but he started calling her by concealing his phone number, according to the complaint.
The woman said she answered a call because she didn't realize it was from Ferrario. She said he told her he was tired of not being able to talk to her and the other victims listed in the first complaint, according to court records. He told her she would see "a boot through the door" and she would have reason to call the police, according to the complaint.
Ferrario also contacted the victims by using Facebook and asking a neighbor to deliver a message from him, according to the complaint. The neighbor said he couldn't deliver Ferrario's message because of the judge's no contact order.
A Wausau officer contacted the Eau Claire Police Department and asked them to look for Ferrario at a home there where he was thought to be staying. A girl who answered the door at the home said she was home alone, and her parents were out of town. An officer saw a shadow in the window that couldn't be identified and Ferrario's vehicle in the driveway, according to the complaint.
If convicted of the new charges, Ferrario faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Contact Karen Madden at (715) 345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
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This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Green Bay Packer Bill Ferrario facing new charges in Marathon County
