A Keshena man convicted of stealing from the construction site for the future Menominee Indian High School was sentenced March 20 in federal court to 2½ years in prison, three years’ supervised release and restitution of $29,451.
According to court documents, Merwin Wynos Jr., 35, entered the fenced construction site last September and used a Kubota utility vehicle at the site to drive through the locked gate. Wynos then loaded the utility vehicle with construction and building equipment and made several trips to a nearby residence where he was living to offload the stolen items. Wynos entered several construction trailers within the fenced area and took computer laptops and iPads belonging to Miron Construction and some subcontractors.
At his Jan. 16 plea hearing, Wynos agreed that on Sept. 23, 2023, he took the items listed in discovery materials and their replacement value, which totaled in excess of $60,000. Wynos also acknowledged that he returned to the construction site on Nov. 25, 2023, and took additional construction and other equipment valued at $10,000. He faced maximum penalties of five years in prison.
Wendell Waukau, Menominee Indian School District superintendent, emailed a reply March 20 to a reporter’s questions.
“It’s unfortunate this incident happened. The good thing is that it did not set back the construction process, which is a credit to our contractor, Miron. The original opening date was set for January of 2025. The school is coming along at a faster pace and will be ready to open on Sept. 3, 2024, which is the first day of school.”
The school district broke ground May 31, 2023, on the new, 110,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art high school.
In 2016, Wynos was convicted of theft from a Keshena convenience store and sentenced to three years in prison and three years’ supervised release in May of that year. According to the plea agreement, Wynos took part in the theft of items from the convenience store, and while fleeing in a vehicle, nearly struck a Menominee Tribal Police officer who was responding to a burglar alarm. Wynos then led officers from the tribal police and the Menominee County Sheriff’s Department on a high-speed chase that ended in Shawano County, where Wynos crashed the car he was driving.
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