Woman who handed out drug-laced cookies sentenced

Krause arrested after handing out marijuana cookies at St. Patrick’s Day parade
By: 
Tim Ryan
Reporter

SHAWANO — A Shawano woman accused of handing out marijuana-laced cookies during the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the town of Wescott was sentenced Thursday on two felony counts.

Cathleen K. Krause, 58, pleaded no contest to charges of manufacture and delivery of marijuana and second or subsequent possession of marijuana.

She was sentenced to 80 days in jail with work release privileges.

Krause was arrested in March after Shawano County authorities received a call reporting that a woman was handing out drug-laced cookies during the annual holiday parade in Wescott’s Mooseyard.

According to the criminal complaint, a sheriff’s deputy was told that a woman wearing a green St. Patrick’s Day hat and wearing a leather coat had handed out a cookie that she said had marijuana in it.

The reporting party had taken a picture of the woman, later identified as Krause, and showed it to the deputy, who located and questioned Krause.

The complaint states Krause was visibly intoxicated, and her breath smelled of alcohol and marijuana.

After being asked about the cookies, Krause pulled out a large gallon-sized bag of cookie crumbs and consented to a search, according the complaint.

During the search, a number of prescription pills were found along with a package of gummy candy, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, the cookie that Krause allegedly gave to the person who reported it to authorities and the gummy candy tested positive for marijuana.

It’s unknown how many marijuana cookies Krause might have handed out before she was arrested.

According to court records, Krause was previously convicted of a misdemeanor count of possessing marijuana in Shawano County in 2015.