A criminal charge against a former correctional sergeant at Waupun Correctional Institution in connection with a prisoner’s death was dismissed Sept. 15.
Alexander Hollfelder was among seven staff members arrested and charged in June 2024 in connection with the death of 62-year-old Donald Maier at the maximum-security prison. He’s the second to have the charge against him dropped.
Hollfelder had been charged with abuse of residents of penal facilities, a felony that can carry a sentence of up to 1½ years in prison and two years on extended supevision.
According to prosectors’ motion to dismiss the charge, Hollfelder had contact with Maier for only a few days before Maier’s death, and he communicated his concerns to his supervisor and a member of the prison’s health services unit.
“Based on this communication and the obligations of the HSU that was outlined in the state’s expert report, the state believes that Hollfelder’s criminal responsibility is minimal, so criminal prosecution is not in the interest of justice,” the motion reads.
Prison staff found Maier dead in his cell just before 3:30 p.m. Feb. 22, 2024. The Dodge County medical examiner estimated he likely died hours earlier, and determined his cause of death to be malnutrition and probable dehydration, by manner of homicide.
An investigation by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office found prison staff didn’t properly communicate when Maier missed multiple meals and medication, and had his water access turned off.
In June 2024, the sheriff’s office announced that nine prison staff members, including then-warden Randall Hepp, were arrested and criminally charged in connection with deaths at the prison. Seven staffers were charged in connection with Maier’s death, while three were charged in connection with the October 2023 death of 24-year-old Cameron Williams, who died of a rare stroke after prisoners say his calls for help went ignored.
The charges came amid scrutiny of Waupun’s maximum-security prison for a string of seven prisoner deaths within two years and a federal investigation into an alleged contraband smuggling ring. Current and former staff have tied many of the issues at Waupun, and in other state prisons, to long-term staffing shortages.
According to a criminal complaint for Maier’s death, Hollfelder was accused of not notifying any of his supervisors or initiating a welfare check after multiple officers informed him of Maier’s “deteriorating condition” during his shifts on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 of 2024.
However, Dodge County District Attorney Andrea Will’s motion for dismissal of Hollfelder’s case notes that Hollfelder did report his concerns about Maier’s health.
Also, Hollfelder was off work on family and medical leave for the first week that Maier was in the restrictive housing unit, so he had limited contact with Maier.
“Based on this communication and the obligations of the HSU that was outlined in the state’s expert report, the state believes that Hollfelder’s criminal responsibility is minimal, so criminal prosecution is not in the interest of justice,” the motion reads.
In April, former Waupun correctional sergeant Jeramie Chalker had the charge against him, misconduct in public office, dismissed. Chalker had been accused of initialing that he completed two cell-check rounds on the restrictive housing unit, where Maier was housed, despite not completing them.
However, Will’s motion to dismiss that charge noted that Chalker told investigators he had been instructed by his superior officer to fill out the rounds sheets and was merely “following chain of command.”
Two other former staffers have pleaded to reduced charges of low-level misdemeanors.
Sarah Ransbottom, a former correctional officer, pleaded no contest in September 2024 to violating the law of a state or county institution, for initialing that she completed two rounds of cell checks on the restrictive housing unit that she didn’t complete. She was ordered to pay a $250 fine.
At Ransbottom’s plea and sentencing hearing, Dodge County Assistant District Attorney Shawn Woller said Ransbottom’s offense was “the least aggravating of all the defendants charged related to this inmate’s death.”
In April, Hepp, who had been charged with misconduct in public office for not ensuring his staff members were properly trained on the prison’s policies and procedures, also pleaded no contest to the low-level misdemeanor of violating the law of a state or county institution, and was sentenced to a $500 fine.
The following staff have ongoing cases, with upcoming court appearances:
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Case dropped against former Waupun correctional sergeant accused of role in prisoner death
Reporting by Kelli Arseneau, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
