Six arrests, three cases after Oconto County meth busts

Defendants accused of manufacture and delivery
By: 
Warren Bluhm
Oconto County Times Herald News Editor

OCONTO — One of six people arrested for methamphetamine trafficking in Oconto County earlier this month was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing of the charges on Tuesday.

Diann Moeller, 54, of rural Oconto Falls was being held in lieu of $50,000 cash in the Oconto County Jail, charged with five felonies related to the manufacture and delivery of the highly addictive recreational drug.

The charges against Moeller include bail jumping, as she was already being prosecuted for possession of methamphetamine and narcotic drugs from an incident in May. She appeared in Oconto County Circuit Court on Friday morning in the balance of her initial appearance on the new charges.

Moeller and three other defendants – Greylyn M. Gilson, 53, Coleman; Julie A. Harteau, 61, Oconto Falls; and Patrick E. Mocco, 62, Coleman – were arrested Sept. 6 after authorities executed three search warrants and a traffic stop in what appear to be three separate cases.

The criminal complaints for those four suspects indicate that the investigation began earlier this summer when a confidential informant expressed concern that Gilson’s 11-year-old son was being exposed to illegal drug use.

The informant said Gilson and Moeller were cooking meth in a camper behind the home where Gilson lives in the town of Spruce. Mocco owns the property, and Harteau and Mocco’s adult son also live there, the complaint said.

The investigation tracked purchases by the four defendants of pseudoephedrine, lye, and other products that can be used in meth production. Gilson was being held in lieu of a $20,000 cash bond, while Mocco and Harteau were released on $10,000 signature bonds, pending their next court appearances on Oct. 17.

In another case, Jason L. Millikin, 43, of Kingsford, Michigan, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 30 on charges of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession of narcotic drugs, and possession of illegally obtained prescription drugs after his arrest during a traffic stop Sept. 9.

The criminal complaint says Millikin was pulled over after an officer saw his vehicle weaving between lanes on U.S. Highway 141 north of Ligeois Road. A license check revealed that he was wanted in Dickinson County, Michigan.

An Oconto County K-9 unit yielded a positive alert, and a probable-cause search of the vehicle resulted in the confiscation of 97 grams of methamphetamine in two plastic bags, along with a number of pills, the complaint said.

Millikin was being held in lieu of $50,000 cash in the Oconto County Jail.

In the third case, Curt Porath, 48, was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing Friday on charges of manufacture and delivery of amphetamine, possession of methamphetamine precursors, bail jumping, possession of paraphernalia to produce methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine waste, possession of methamphetamine.

An informant named Porath as involved in making and selling meth at his home on River Road in the town of Oconto, according to the criminal complaint.

Deputies executed a search warrant and arrested Porath on Sept. 6. He was being held on $30,000 cash bond.

As a member of the Northeast Tri-County Drug Enforcement Group, Oconto County received help during the investigation from the Forest County and Shawano County sheriff’s departments and the Marinette Police Department, along with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and the State Patrol.

When he announced the arrests last week, Skarban said the investigation is ongoing, with additional arrests expected.

wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com