Former Racine County man sentenced to 200 years

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A former Racine County man has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for terrorizing his family. 43-year-old Sean Riker is already serving seven-and-a-half years in prison for vandalizing the Racine County Jail – and although he could have attended his sentencing on a video hook-up Friday, he chose not to. Riker was convicted last November of 16 crimes against his family including reckless endangerment, physical child abuse, and first-degree child sexual assault. Circuit Judge Wayne Marik withdrew from the case after Riker threatened him and prosecutors. It’s against the law to threaten a judge, but prosecutors say they won’t pile that on. Riker won’t begin his 200-year term for the other crimes until his current sentence ends. He’s at the state’s Secure Program Facility, the former “Super-Max” prison in Boscobel for Wisconsin’s toughest criminals. Defense attorney Richard Hart said he’s talked with Riker about his behavior, but he has found no clear answers. Still, Hart went on record saying that Riker is a human being who has shown the capacity to love.

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A 19-year-old man is under arrest for spray-painting violent graffiti early Friday at Kettle Moraine High School, and charges could be filed today. According to W-T-M-J Radio, the suspect claimed he was not being malicious – and he said his graffiti was not a threat to the school or its students. Half of Kettle Moraine’s students either stayed home on Friday or left early because of the graffiti – which included the phrases “Die yuppie scum” and “Kill people.” The school stayed open. Officials said violent graffiti was also found in other parts of Waukesha County, but authorities are not sure whether all the incidents are related.

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A former Fond du Lac city official is waiting to find out when he’ll be sentenced, after a jury convicted him of running a 240-thousand-dollar embezzlement scheme. The jury found 65-year-old Mark Beveridge guilty of 17 criminal charges and innocent of eight others. Beveridge used to be in charge of the Fond du Lac city government’s computer systems. Prosecutors said he gave his password to others in the Management Information Systems department. And they used it to buy personal electronics and musical equipment – even a kangaroo outfit for a child. Defense lawyer Michael O’Rourke said authorities found only about two-thousand dollars of the stolen items in Beveridge’s home. O’Rourke said his client was a “lousy manager” who should have been fired – but he didn’t do anything criminal, unlike others in his department. Three of Beveridge’s ex-employees were sentenced to up to three years’ in jail plus probation – Jon Lippert, Jason Wianecki, and Ken Moran. Milwaukee vendor Emil Devcic was also convicted as part of the scheme. Officials said Lippert stole the most, around 110-thousand dollars.

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