JUNEAU – A former Waupun Correctional Institution guard entered a no-contest plea to a criminal charge Thursday and was ordered to pay a fine — making her the first of nine staff facing charges for deaths at the prison to be convicted and sentenced.
As part of a plea deal, Sarah Ann Margaret Ransbottom, 36, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of violating the law of a state or county institution , rather than the felony charge she originally faced, misconduct in public office .
Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Martin De Vries sentenced Ransbottom to a fine of $250, which was the joint recommendation agreed upon by the prosecution and defense.
Ransbottom is one of seven staff who were charged in connection with the Feb. 22 death of 62-year-old Donald Maier. Maier died of malnutrition and probable dehydration in what the Dodge County medical examiner ruled a homicide . An investigation from the Dodge County Sheriff's Office found prison staff members intermittently shut off water to Maier's cell to prevent him from flooding it, but did not properly document when the water was turned on or off. They also failed to document missed meals and provide Maier with his medications.
The seven staff members charged faced varying degrees of responsibility at the prison, ranging in ranks from the former warden, Randall Hepp, to correctional officers, like Ransbottom.
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." According to a criminal complaint, security camera footage showed Ransbottom did not complete cell check rounds on the restricted housing unit where Maier was held between 4 and 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 20, or between 2 and 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 22, despite her initials marking them off on the log.
Following another death at Waupun Correctional Institution in October 2023, the prison implemented a new system for keeping track of rounds, "to clearly determine who was responsible for the care of the inmates," Woller explained at the sentencing. As part of that system, staff were required to conduct cell checks at specific intervals during their shift, and mark off who did those cell checks.
The investigation into Maier's death was impacted by the false documentation that Ransbottom completed rounds she did not complete, Woller said.
"Correctional officers are an important part of our criminal justice system. If officers do not complete thorough and accurate reports, our prison systems cannot run safely and effectively," he said.
Still, Woller said, he did not believe any incarceration time was necessary for Ransbottom due to her "minimal role."
However, during the prosecution's sentencing argument, Woller read a letter from Maier's mother, which he said she requested to be read at each of the sentencings for those convicted of crimes relating to her son's death.
In the letter, Maier's mother said she applauds law enforcement and prosecutors for prosecuting her son's death, but she believes the staff whose actions contributed to Maier's death should receive more than "a slap on the wrist and the embarrassment of being caught and arrested."
"I feel that each and every person who ignored my son and therefore had a hand in his death should spend some time in jail so that they learn firsthand what it is like to be dependent on other guards for food and water and medical care and protection," her letter reads. "Nothing can bring my son back, but I'd like to think that we as a society would at least learn something from this tragedy, so this never happens to anyone else's son."
Ransbottom's attorney, Greg Petit, said there was "some horrible work and terrible injustice that was done in the prison," but that Ransbottom was not a part of it.
Ransbottom normally worked first shift in an entirely different part of the prison, but was called in to help with cell checks in the restrictive housing unit during a double shift she was required to take.
"My client, among others, were working 16-hour shifts, with no choice, because the prison was woefully understaffed," Petit said.
Waupun Correctional Institution's severe understaffing has been cited by staff as the reason behind the string of recent deaths at the prison. In a span of 14 months, six prisoners at the maximum security institution have died. Maier's death was the fourth in that time frame. According to the criminal complaint for Maier's death, the former warden told investigators "this is the inevitable outcome of a long-term staffing deficit."
According to DOC data , Waupun Correctional Institution reached its peak security staffing vacancy rate in the second half of February — during the time frame of Maier's death — of 56.2% of correctional officer and sergeant positions unfilled.
The complaint says Hepp also told investigators the restrictive housing unit was few staff members' regular position and not a popular place to work, so there's "an attitude of 'just get by' from staff in restrictive housing."
Petit said Ransbottom is not denying that she either initialed off or allowed someone to initial off on rounds in restrictive housing unit that she did not do. But her wrongdoing does not amount to the felony she was initially charged with before the plea agreement, he said.
"My client’s not the one that turned off water and forgot to turn it back on and forgot to tell people the water was off, the one that didn’t give food, the one that didn’t give medications, the one that didn’t alert staff. She had nothing to do with any of those things," Petit said.
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The maximum sentence Ransbottom could have faced for violating the law of a state or county institution, a Class C misdemeanor, was a $500 fine and 30 days in jail. De Vries agreed with attorneys that no incarceration time was necessary in Ransbottom's case.
"There is a death in this case, and what you did was wrong. And I want to make it clear, however, that ... from what I’ve been told in court here today and looking at the complaint, what you did wrong here did not cause or contribute to anybody’s death," De Vries said to Ransbottom.
The judge said he sees the charge Ransbottom is convicted of as an offense that is separate from Maier's death. However, because the cell checks she falsely marked off to have conducted would have brought her by Maier's cell shortly before he died, she is in court for something that would likely have otherwise been handled internally, he said.
Court proceedings continue for other Waupun staff members, some of whom face charges for Maier's death, and some who face charges for the Oct. 30 death of Cameron Williams, who died of a rare stroke after prisoners say his calls for help went ignored .
The following are their upcoming court appearances:
- Jessica Ann Hosfelt, a nurse who is charged with abuse of residents of penal facilities for Maier's death , has a motion hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 27.
- Brandon Fisher, a correctional lieutenant charged with abuse of residents of penal facilities for both Maier's and Williams' deaths , has a telephone scheduling conference set for 1 p.m. Sept. 30.
- Hepp, who is charged with misconduct in public office, has a telephone scheduling conference set for 1:15 p.m. Sept. 30.
- Alexander Hollfelder, a former correctional sergeant charged with abuse of residents of penal facilities for Maier's death , has a telephone scheduling conference set for 1:45 p.m. Sept. 30.
- Jeramie Chalker, a former correctional sergeant charged with misconduct in public office for Maier's death, is scheduled for an arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 1.
- Jamall Rabb Russell, a former correctional officer charged with abuse of residents of penal facilities and misconduct in public office for Maier's death, has a telephone scheduling conference for 11:15 a.m. Oct. 14.
- Gwendolyn Vick, a nurse who is charged with abuse of residents of penal facilities for Williams' death , has a telephone scheduling conference at 9:15 a.m. Oct. 21.
- Tanner Leopold, a former correctional sergeant charged with abuse of residents of penal facilities for Williams' death, has a telephone scheduling conference at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 28.
Hepp resigned from his role as warden days before charges were filed against him and the other staff members. DOC spokeswoman Beth Hardtke told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that Hollfelder, Leopold, Chalker, Russell, Ransbottom, Hosfelt and Vick are no longer employed by DOC.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com . Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli .
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Former Waupun correctional officer convicted, fined for crime linked to inmate's death
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