Tracy Bahr waived his right to have a preliminary hearing April 3, one week after his attorney called for one to take place and asked for his client to be present in the court hearing, and pleaded not guilty to 100 different charges.
Defense attorney Christopher Froelich said that Bahr understood his rights and was waiving the preliminary hearing, where it’s usually determined if the state has enough evidence to proceed with a trial.
Shawano-Menominee Circuit Court Judge William Kussel Jr. went through the preliminary hearing waiver and emphasized that waiving the hearing does not constitute an admission of guilt.
“You are not giving up your right to have a trial,” Kussel said.
Bahr’s trial is scheduled for June 26. A final pre-trial is currently scheduled for 11:15 a.m. June 10 in Branch II of the Shawano County Courthouse.
In the latest case, Bahr is facing one count of failure to comply with an officer’s attempt to take a person into custody, nine counts of possessing a a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of possession of methamphetamine, one count of possession of THC greater than 1,000 grams with intent, 22 felony counts of bail jumping, one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing an officer, three misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and seven misdemeanor counts of bail jumping.
Bahr faces up to 3 1/2 years in prison and $10,000 in fines for failure to comply with an officer’s attempt to take a person into custody, 10 years and $25,000 in fines for each count of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon, 3 1/2 years and $10,000 in fines for possession of methamphetamine, six years and $10,000 in fines for possession of THC with intent, and six years and $10,000 in fines for each bail jumping count.
Bahr could also face nine months in jail and $10,000 in fines for one count of resisting or obstructing an officer, 30 days and $500 in fines for each misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, and nine months and $10,000 in fines for each misdemeanor bail jumping count.
According to Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, Bahr has six other open cases in Shawano County, with the first coming from October 2020. The first case is a misdemeanor disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse repeater.
Things accelerated from there when, in December 2021, Bahr was charged with intimidating a victim with the threat of force with a domestic abuse repeater, along with another disorderly conduct charge and two bail jumping charges. A second case in that year involves another charge of intimidation, as well as battery and disorderly conduct charges and four more bail jumping charges. Another disorderly conduct charge and two more bail jumping charges are included in a third case.
In January 2022, Bahr was charged with nine counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, three counts of resisting an officer, three counts of hit and run, and 12 counts of bail jumping. In February 2022, Bahr was charged with theft of movable property, criminal damage to property, six counts of felony bail jumping and five counts of misdemeanor bail jumping.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Bahr pleads not guilty to 100 crimes
