Former Green Bay Packer and Wisconsin Badger player William Ferrario gets 35 days for drunken driving

WAUSAU − A former Green Bay Packers player was sentenced Wednesday in Marathon County Circuit Court to 35 days in jail for second offense drunken driving .

William J. Ferrario, 45, whose lawyer said he is moving back to Wausau from Eau Claire, pleaded no contest Wednesday afternoon to the second-offense drunken driving charge, plus misdemeanor charges of intimidating a victim, bail jumping and disorderly conduct, all as domestic abuse incidents. The intimidating a victim charge was reduced from felony intimidating a victim. Marathon County Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson found Ferrario guilty of the charges.

As part of a plea agreement, Jacobson dismissed charges of felony stalking and misdemeanor bail jumping. Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Gebert and defense attorney Dennis Melowski made a joint recommendation of 18 months of probation on the domestic abuse cases.

Ferrario had been through an intensive outpatient treatment program and probation seems appropriate, Gebert said.

No victims appeared for the sentencing and Ferrario chose not to speak when Jacobson gave him the chance.

Jacobson ordered Ferrario to maintain absolute sobriety, make a good faith effort to maintain employment or school and have no abusive contact with his victims. Jacobson sentenced Ferarrio to the 35 days in jail with credit for one day already served for the second offense drunken driving charge. He gave him the recommended 18 months of probation.

Jacobson gave Ferrario 60 days to report to jail. He also ordered him to have periodic reviews in front of the judge for the domestic abuse case.

Ferrario was a guard for the Wisconsin Badgers in 1999 and 2000 when they won back-to-back Rose Bowls. The Green Bay Packers drafted him in the fourth round in 2001. He played for the Packers through the 2002 season. The Packers released him in 2003.

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According to the original criminal complaint, on Jan. 2, 2023, Ferrario caused a disturbance in his Wausau home by intentionally bumping into a person and not letting the person by. Police responded and took Ferrario to a hotel for the evening, but he returned the next day. When Ferrario found the home's doors locked and learned he couldn't get in, he got angry and caused a disturbance in the garage, according to the complaint.

Police arrested Ferrario and took him to the Marathon County Jail. He entered not guilty pleas to disorderly conduct and second-offense drunken driving charges on Jan. 4, 2023. Jacobson set a $1,500 signature bond for Ferrario with conditions that included not having contact with the listed victims in the case.

According to the criminal complaint in a second case, on Feb. 27, 2023, a victim in the first case contacted an officer and said Ferrario had been trying to contact her for two weeks. She blocked his phone number, but he started calling her by concealing his phone number, according to the complaint.

The woman said she answered a call because she didn't realize it was from Ferrario. She said he told her he was tired of not being able to talk to her and the other victims listed in the first complaint, according to court records. He told her she would see "a boot through the door" and she would have reason to call the police, according to the complaint.

Ferrario also contacted the victims by using Facebook and asking a neighbor to deliver a message from him, according to the complaint. The neighbor said he couldn't deliver Ferrario's message because of the judge's no contact order.

A Wausau officer contacted the Eau Claire Police Department and asked them to look for Ferrario at a home there where he was thought to be staying. A girl who answered the door at the home said she was home alone, and her parents were out of town. An officer saw a shadow in the window that couldn't be identified and Ferrario's vehicle in the driveway, according to the complaint.

Ferrario was charged in June in Vilas County with third-offense drunken driving. He has not yet made his initial appearance on the charge.

Contact Karen Madden at (715) 345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com . Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33 .

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Former Green Bay Packer and Wisconsin Badger player William Ferrario gets 35 days for drunken driving