By Shereen Siewert
A 45-year-old man who was on the run from probation and was accused of selling a near-fatal dose of heroin to a Wausau man will head to prison after reaching a plea deal in a felony Marathon County case.
The latest charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, manufacturing or delivering heroin and possession of heroin with intent to deliver were filed Jan. 19 in Marathon County Circuit Court, two days after a 41-year-old Wausau man overdosed and nearly died at a home in the 300 block of South Fourth Avenue. Police say the victim bought heroin from Christopher Harter, a source he allegedly used frequently.
This was the third such accusation in a five-year span.
In July 2017, Christopher Harter was accused of smuggling heroin into a local hospital and giving the drug to a patient who overdosed in the bathroom. The man, a friend of Harter’s, survived.
Then in February 2018, Harter was arrested again, this time after a 35-year-old man was found passed out in the bathroom at a convenience store on Wausau’s northeast side. Police and rescue workers responded after an employee found the man lying on the floor. Paramedics administered Narcan to the man and revived him on the way to a local hospital, according to the police report. Police traced the drugs to Harter, who was then charged in connection with the case.
In June 2018, Harter was sentenced to five years in prison after his conviction on charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, manufacturing or delivering heroin and possession of heroin with intent to deliver, charges stemming from the 2017 and 2018 overdoses. Department of Corrections records show he was released on extended supervision in August 2020, but allegedly admitted to police in a January interview that he had been on the run from probation for a year and a half before his most recent arrest.
In June, Harter avoided a trial when he reached a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to first-degree recklessly endangering safety in connection with the January overdose. Additional charges were dismissed but read into the record at sentencing.
During a June 13 hearing Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill sentenced Harter to four years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision.
He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim, undergo AODA counseling and maintain absolute sobriety from controlled substances. The Court found 36 days credit, which will apply to his initial prison term.
