Reedsburg woman sentenced to 18 months in federal prison

After pleading guilty in September, Chrystal D. Mueller, 41 of Reedsburg, was sentenced Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 18 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. The prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release. In rejecting her request for a probationary sentence, Judge Peterson noted that Mueller participated in the conduct for almost two years and brought her then-significant other into the conspiracy. 

Between January 14, 2022, and April 8, 2022, Mueller and others worked together to distribute fentanyl pills in Wisconsin. The drugs would be sent from California and mailed to residences associated with Mueller, who would then distribute them locally. Mueller would get a discount on the fentanyl for her part in the conspiracy.

Kenneth O. Phillips, 40 of Wisconsin Dells, the local leader of the group, was sentenced on November 21 to six years in prison. Brandon Stevens, 40 of Wisconsin Dells, was sentenced on November 20, to a year and a day in prison. Stevens worked for the United States Postal Service as a mail carrier and would pick up parcels containing drugs that were on his route and bring them to his partner, Mueller. The investigation determined that a total of 19 parcels were mailed from California to Wisconsin between January and April 2022. The United States Postal Inspection Service intercepted parcels addressed to Phillips, Mueller, and Stevens in March and April and found they contained fentanyl pills.

Another individual in the conspiracy, Ames Basham, has also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on April 7.

The charges against Mueller were the result of an investigation conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wisconsin State Patrol.

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