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Plea deal reached in drug death

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Devis Osinski

JANESVILLE — Prosecutors have dismissed the reckless homicide charge against one of three defendants accused of dealing the heroin that killed an Elkhorn woman in April 2006.

Devis K. Osinski, 44, Pell Lake, pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony charges of party to delivering heroin, felony bail jumping and misdemeanor failure to report a crime.

In exchange for his plea, the reckless homicide charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement, Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss said Monday.

Investigators could never prove that the heroin Rebecca H. Monroe took April 3, 2006, when she overdosed and died was the same heroin she purchased from Osinski, the district attorney said.

No DNA, fingerprints or credible witnesses supported the reckless homicide charge, Koss said.

“We never could in fact prove it,” he said. “It seemed better to accept the plea given the risks involved.”

Monroe’s family approved of the plea bargain, Koss said.

Co-defendants, Ladine L. Osinski, 39, Pell Lake, and Jermal A. Johnson, 38, Zion, Ill., were schedule for trial this week on reckless homicide charges but also were negotiating plea agreements, Koss said.

The Osinskis and Johnson are accused of handling the heroin that killed Monroe, according to the criminal complaint. The Osinskis are siblings.

The three were charged with reckless homicide under Wisconsin’s Len Bias Law. The law allows prosecutors to charge homicide against people who provide drugs that cause deaths by overdose.

Devis Osinski faces up to 18 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 24.

Ladine Osinski is due back in court July 24. Johnson’s next hearing is not scheduled.