STEVENS POINT − A 37-year-old Nelsonville man who successfully challenged his 2022 conviction for his part in a home invasion that ended in a man’s death received a nearly identical prison sentence when the case concluded for a second time Aug. 14.
Portage County Circuit Judge Patricia Baker sentenced Benjamin C. Smith to 27.5 years in prison followed by eight years of extended supervision Aug. 14. He received credit for 2,013 days already served in prison.
A jury found Smith guilty of one count of being a party to the crime of murder, two counts of being a party to the crime of armed robbery, three counts of being a party to the crime of false imprisonment with the use of a dangerous weapon and three counts of being a party to the crime of aggravated battery with the use of a dangerous weapon during a trial that ended May 6.
Smith had entered pleas to the charges in 2022 and was sentenced by Baker to 21 years in prison followed by 15 years of extended supervision. Smith challenged the conviction, saying he had tried to withdraw his plea prior to sentencing. On Oct. 1, 2024, Baker granted Smith’s post conviction motion to withdraw his pleas. At that time, the case began again and his trial started May 4.
Criminal complaint details charges against Smith
According to the criminal complaint, on Feb. 8, 2021, Smith and Zachary J. Deyo, 28, of Stevens Point, went to a trailer home in the village of Plover and entered it. Smith was carrying a baseball bat and Deyo had a gun, according to the complaint.
Two men and a woman were sitting in the living room watching television when Deyo entered the room and said, “Where’s the money, where’s the money, get down on the ground,” according to the complaint.
One of the men in the trailer had a handgun in an unlocked case below where he was sitting. He grabbed the weapon and tried to load a round into the chamber when Smith hit him in the head with a baseball bat, according to the complaint. The man told police he thought he was hit twice and fell to his knees.
The injured man said he needed a drink of water and stood up and walked toward the kitchen, but then grabbed his second gun from a glass shelf behind the couch and loaded the firearm with his back toward Deyo, according to the complaint.
The man turned around, pointed his gun at Deyo and said, “Put your gun on the ground or I will shoot you,” according to the complaint. Deyo instead started to raise his right hand with the gun, pointing it at the man, according to the complaint. The man said he thought Deyo was going to shoot him, so he fired his gun first.
The man said he aimed for Deyo’s stomach area. Deyo collapsed on the floor, and the man moved Deyo’s gun away from him, according to the complaint. Deyo died at the scene.
Smith then entered the living room carrying a pickle jar of money in his left hand and the baseball bat in his right hand. The man said Smith took one or two steps into the room and raised his right hand with the baseball bat in a “clubbing” manner toward him, so he shot Smith too, according to the complaint.
Smith collapsed to the ground, dropping the pickle jar of money, and crawled out of the trailer through the main door and to the SUV he came in, according to the complaint.
When officers arrived on scene, one of them found Smith in the driver’s seat of an SUV talking on the phone. Smith was hospitalized with his injury for more than two weeks.
The man who shot Smith and Deyo had a large wound on his head that was bleeding profusely, according to the complaint. The man who fired the shots was not charged. The woman who had been inside the trailer also was bleeding from her head and told officers Smith hit her with the bat twice, according to the complaint.
Conditions of Smith’s extended supervision
As a condition of his extended supervision, Baker ordered Smith to write apology letters to all of the victims in the case including Deyo’s family, according to online court records.
He also must pay $16,832.86 restitution and have no contact with any of the victims in the case or Deyo’s family.
Contact Karen Madden kmadden@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Nelsonville man sentenced to 35.5 years in fatal Plover home invasion
Reporting by Karen Madden, Stevens Point Journal / Stevens Point Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Karen Madden, Stevens Point Journal | USA TODAY Network
