Man sentenced for connection to overdose death, and updates on 3 other Sheboygan County criminal cases
SHEBOYGAN - Three Sheboygan County criminal cases closed in the past few months as judges sentenced men to prison for reckless homicide, kidnapping and possession of child pornography.
Prosecutors also amended child abuse charges against a 25-year-old Plymouth man to reckless homicide after the infant died.
Here's what to know about those four cases.
Man sentenced to 23 years in prison for delivering drugs to woman who died of a fentanyl overdose
In January, a jury found Dwayne Cannon, 32, guilty of first-degree reckless homicide for delivering drugs to the victim of an overdose.
This month, Judge Daniel Borowski sentenced Cannon, of Cudahy, to 23 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision, as well as restitution. That’s after prosecutors recommended a 20-year sentence in prison and Cannon’s attorney recommended a five-year sentence.
Cannon — along with Amanda Miller, if convicted of the same crime — must also pay more than $21,600 in restitution requested by family of the woman who died, as well as nearly $5,000 in court costs.
Miller plead not guilty to the crime and her case is still open.
Miller told police she and Cannon delivered heroin to the victim the night of the victim's death in October 2021. A doctor said a fentanyl overdose caused the victim’s death.
At the time, Cannon was on supervision for being party to a crime of second-degree reckless injury while using a dangerous weapon in Milwaukee in 2013. In that case, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years of extended supervision.
Man sentenced to 28 years in prison for kidnapping
In February, Judge Rebecca Persick sentenced 60-year-old Dean Hoffmann, of Grafton, to 28 years in prison and 18 years of extended supervision.
A jury last August found Hoffmann guilty of kidnapping, suffocating, harming and intimidating a woman in her Waldo home in 2018. The jury also found Hoffmann guilty of conspiring to and soliciting someone to intimidate the woman from being a witness in court in 2019.
The victim of the kidnapping testified that Hoffmann walked into her home and forcibly kept her there for five or six hours, until a pizza delivery driver called law enforcement when he saw her mouthing “help me” as he delivered an order to the address.
The kidnapping occurred about a month after the victim, who had been dating Hoffmann, broke off the relationship, she said in court.
Hoffmann must also pay more than $1,750 in court costs.
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Sheboygan man sentenced to 8 years in prison for possessing child pornography
In March, Judge Borowski sentenced Eric Giesen, 64, to eight years in prison and eight years of extended supervision.
Giesen was charged with 25 counts of possession of child pornography in 2019 after police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit organization, and found 25 pornographic images of children on a tablet and computer in Giesen’s home, according to a criminal complaint.
Giesen accepted a plea deal late last year, eventually pleading no contest to two counts, with the other counts dismissed but read in. That means Borowski considered the charges when determining Giesen’s sentence.
In Wisconsin, a conviction of possession of child pornography carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison for each count.
Concerns about Giesen’s competency — or ability to understand court proceedings and assist in his own defense — delayed the case. Then-Judge Kent Hoffmann originally found Giesen incompetent to stand trial but likely to regain competency in a state psychiatric facility.
Hoffmann and Borowski later found Giesen competent, and Giesen’s attorney agreed with the finding.
Plymouth man now charged with reckless homicide for baby’s death
In late 2021, Sheboygan County prosecutors charged Michael Dinkin, 25, with child abuse for causing great harm to his baby.
Last fall, prosecutors increased the charges to first-degree reckless homicide after the baby died.
Dinkins had called police saying his 3-month-old baby was struggling to breath. Hospital staff later told police the baby had a fractured skull, severe injury to his brain, hemorrhages and bleeding to his spine, fractures to both of his legs and bruising to his kidneys, according to the criminal complaint.
Dinkins told police the baby fell off a couch onto his head and hit his head during a bath. A doctor told police the baby’s injuries were typical for physical abuse, according to court documents.
A status conference in the case is scheduled for May.
This report is part of the Sheboygan Press's mission to follow criminal cases to their conclusion.
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Reach Maya Hilty at 920-400-7485 or MHilty@sheboygan.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Man sent to prison after Sheboygan woman dies of fentanyl overdose
