A man charged in the homicide of a Green Bay teenager in 1998 and cover-up that followed was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Monday on reduced charges.
Charles J. Mlados, 55, was charged with first degree reckless endangering safety and one count of perjury, in an amended criminal complaint filed Monday in Oconto County Circuit Court.
Mlados, jailed since March 2013, is already eligible for parole under 1998 sentencing guidelines that predate truth-in-sentencing policies. A Department of Corrections parole board will determine if he will be released.
Mlados entered Alford pleas to the charges, pleas in which a defendant maintains his innocence but concedes that evidence presented at a trial could lead to a guilty verdict.
“I’ll state til the day I die I had nothing to do with this crime,” said Mlados, saying it would be impossible to have a fair trial.
The Oconto Falls man had originally been charged with intentional homicide — party to the crime in the death of Chad McLean, a 19-year-old whose body was found in the Pensaukee River a month after he went missing.
He was also charged with two counts of perjury relating to testimony before a judge at a John Doe hearing on Nov. 2, 2012, and was sentenced to one year in the county jail for one count of perjury, to run concurrent. The other count was dismissed.
An Oconto County jury in December found Peter J. Hanson, 53, guilty of the murder of McLean, who visited Oconto County with a friend on Feb. 22, 1998. Hanson was sentenced to life in prison.
According to testimony at Hanson’s trial, Hanson, Mlados and McLean left an Abrams residence after a night of drinking. Although Hanson told investigators he and Mlados took McLean to a truck stop to find his own way back to Green Bay, security tapes and employee testimony refuted the claim.
Special prosecutor Vince Biskupic questioned whether Mlados had information that could’ve led to a quicker resolution to the case, saying 16 years of waiting “puts a sting in the wound” of McLean’s grieving family.
Defense attorney George Pappas Jr. and Mlados said that wasn’t the case.
“I played a part, not in the crime, but I happened to be at the party. But once (McLean) was dropped off at the gas station, my role ended,” Mlados said.
He said he was sorry for the family’s loss but had no idea Hanson was involved in the shooting death of McLean.
“Pete’s been my friend since I was young. I stood with my friend,” Mlados said.
As part of the plea agreement, Mlados was required to provide a statement to law enforcement agents regarding information about the case.
“It’s likely what he tells authorities will be said in less than a minute. What he knows is an admission Hansen made … late in the 2000s,” Pappas said.
McLean’s mother, Carol Neilson, and family and friends filled one side of the courtroom but did not testify in the hearing and did not comment afterward.
Biskupic spoke on their behalf, saying the family is still dealing with the pain of losing McLean.
“The family is on the one hand pleased that the case gets resolved … but it doesn’t necessarily eliminate the pain,” he said.
Judge Peter Diltz, a Door County judge assigned to the case, said he still questions what happened in 1998 but agreed to the joint recommendation made by Pappas and Biskupic, who consulted with McLean’s mother before agreeing to terms.
Diltz said having the recommendation approved by Neilson carried a lot of weight.
“(Mlados) is a different person than Mr. Hanson, and that’s part of the reason Mrs. Neilson agreed to an amendment to count three (recklessly endanger safety) in the resolution of this case,” Biskupic said. “For her family’s sake, she wanted some resolution … and she wanted some accountability.”
One perjury charge accused Mlados of lying at a John Doe hearing on Nov. 2, 2012, about shooting guns at Hanson’s Abrams home in 1997 and 1998.
The second perjury count, which was dismissed, accused Mlados of denying that he rode in a truck with Hanson and McLean on Feb. 22, 1998.
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