The former leader of the Manitowoc County Drug Unit has been convicted.
51-year-old Dave Remiker pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer after he was first charged with a felony count of misconduct in the office.
He was requested to pay a $500 fine plus extra court costs.
According to the criminal complaint, Remiker was charged with misplacing funds from the sheriff’s office after an investigation reveled that “several thousand dollars of asset forfeiture funds were not properly deposited into designated accounts.”
Waushara County Judge Guy Dutcher, who presided over the case, asked both prosecutors and the defense to explain how they came to the plea deal since it deviated from the original felony charge. Attorney Matt Stueck said that not only was Remiker compliant in the investigation, he paid back the $15,000 he owed back to the county.
He also said the conviction for the former Manitowoc County Sheriff was punishment enough.
Remiker’s attorney Brett Kaehne said that the money misplacement was more about a lack of organization rather than criminal content.
Remiker did not make a statement.
Dutcher then said while the original charge of misconduct was correct according to what’s in the criminal complaint, he saw that Remiker took the significant step forward to repay the county.
In a statement following the release of the criminal complaint, Sheriff Dan Hartwig said at the time “that the charges reflect solely the actions of one individual and not the 113 dedicated and hardworking members of the sheriff’s office.”
Remiker retired from the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office in January 2024.
