Premo given chance to avoid prison, but must serve jail time

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By MARK GUNDERMAN
mark.gunderman@lee.net
Saturday, December 20, 2008 8:06 AM CST

An 18-year-old Chippewa Falls man facing charges from motor vehicle theft to causing injury by drunk driving, arson and burglary can avoid prison time if he stays straight. However, Andrew Premo will have to serve 17 1/2 months in the county jail before getting on with his young life.

Premo’s most recent arrest came in October on charges of burglary, theft, arson of property, criminal damage to property, bail jumping and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was in custody for an attempted theft and bond jumping for an incident at a Woodward Avenue residence when police linked him to a burglary at KNG Mechanical, 14 E. Walnut St., where a door was broken and some papers set on fire.

Those incidents occurred just days before he was scheduled to enter a plea from a March incident in which he allegedly led law enforcement on a 12-mile chase in a car that had been reported stolen. He was found to be intoxicated after rolling the vehicle over in a ditch off County P, according to a criminal complaint. Premo and a passenger reportedly suffered injuries.

Charges from that incident include second degree reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer, burglary, OWI causing injury and operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent.

He was also scheduled to enter a plea on charges of operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and fleeing an officer from a July 7, 2007 incident.

Premo appeared before Judge Roderick Cameron for sentencing Thursday.

Premo was sentenced to one and a half years in prison and two years of supervision for the 2007 fleeing case, with the motor vehicle theft charge dismissed. He was also sentenced to a consecutive one and a half years in prison and two years of supervision for the 2008 fleeing case, plus a year in jail for causing injury by drunk driving and three years in prison and three years supervision for motor vehicle theft.

However, all of that was imposed and stayed and Premo was placed on probation for six years. Should his probation be revoked, he will automatically be sent to prison to serve the time.

Sentence was withheld on the arson, bail jumping, burglary and criminal damage to property case related to the KNG Mechanical break-in. He was placed on probation for six years. If probation is revoked, he could be sentenced to prison time in addition to the terms that were imposed and stayed.

For the other October incident, Premo was sentenced to a year in jail for bond jumping, four and a half months for attempted theft and 30 days for possession of drug paraphernalia, all to be served consecutively, for a total of 17 1/2 months.

Some additional uncharged matters were read in for sentencing.