New Charges for Man Who Drove into Good Nite Inn
According to news reports, the man who is accused of driving his SUV into the Good Nite Inn this summer is facing new charges in court.
He is already facing charges of “Homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle” for the death of Jesus Manuel Quirios Castillo, who was asleep in his motel room and killed by the SUV that came through the building. According to the DA, the driver of the SUV had a BAC of more than .40. If convicted, this will be the drivers 3rd offense of drunk driving.
The man charged, Stephen Van Vleit, is now facing Bail Jumping charges. He had been out of jail on a $25,000 bond. He was in a treatment facility for alcohol. The bail jumping charges are being filed due the fact that Van Vleit did not show up for his daily breath test on Thursday and did not return to the treatment facility until Saturday.
He had a court appearance in Antigo on Oct. 23. Van Vleit is now in jail on a $75,000 cash bond. He has waived his Preliminary Hearing.
According to News Channel 7′s Report, Van Vleit’s lawyer is hoping to come to a plea agreement with the prosecution by the end of November. You can find Channel 7′s report here.
There are some pretty racist and harsh comments on this story on the following blog: Topix Antigo blog
******UPDATE*********
Mr. VanVleit was back in court today and posted an additional $75,000 bond. In combination with his first bond, this is a total of $100,000. It is still unknown if the first $25,000 he paid will be forfeited. He has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. He is due back in court in February 2008.
*********UPDATE 12/4/07**************
Once again Mr. VanVleit has violated rules of his bond and is now back behind bars. According to the Antigo Daily Journal, VanVleit tested positive for alcohol – against strict orders and the court has now set his bond at an ADDITIONAL $125,000. The violation occurred last Friday and as of today, the new bond amount has not been posted. It is still unknown as to whether his previous bonds will be forfeited.
**********Update 01/09/08**********
According to court records bond was posted today for the amount of $125,000 for Stephen VanVleit. It is still unclear if the previous bonds will be forfeited to the court. He is scheduled to appear back in court on 02/07/08.
*************UPDATE 02/05/08***********
According to the Antigo Journal today, Mr. VanVleit has AGAIN violated the rules of his bond. Judge Kawalski has now set bond at 1 million dollars – the highest bond ever set in Langlade County.
**********UPDATE 09/05/08****************
A Plea deal is apparently in the works for Mr. VanVleit. Read the report posted on News Channel 7′s site HERE.
************UPDATE 09/18/08*************
Mr. VanVleit has pleaded no contest to a deal with the DA. He is set to be sentenced on Dec. 3rd. You can read the story in the Antigo Journal HERE.
***************UPDATE 01/09/09**********
Mr. VanVleit had his sentencing hearing today in Langlade Cty. court. Judge Kawalski has sentenced him to 12 years in prison and 11 years of extended supervision. According to the news report on WSAW, the bond money that has been collected will be used for fines and costs, with the remaining amounts going to the victim’s family. You can read the WSAW article HERE.
****************UPDATE 06/23/10**********
Stephen VanVleit passed away – see his obituary
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if uttke thinks that he did a good job on this case just because he got a guilty verdict he can think again. i would have thought the judge would have given him a longer sentence. people who commit far less damaging laws get more time in jail. and let me tell u, his little letter he wrote, well hes not the only one who feels that way when going through something this serious. i do not feel sorry for him, he chose his road and went the wrong way, hes not the only one who is suffering. i hope the judge will be able to live with himself if something like this happens again with this guy, make sure to keep the mouthwash and anything else containing alcohol away from him. what a waste. i’m very disappointed.
This is a joke.
Chad Jorgenson plotted to kill his ex-wife. Although he had the plan all set up and tried getting someone to do it, he never did. He dropped the idea. He was still caught, and got 5 years.
Maybe someone can explain to me how an alcoholic that actually KILLED SOMEONE while drunk driving only gets 12 years?!?!?!?!?!? I agree with Fed Up, the restitution idea is a joke as well. According to the letter he read in court, Van Vleit is dropping alcohol for good. But that still doesnt change the fact that he committed 4 felonies at the same time and gets a measly 12 years.
Just my opinion, but something isn’t right here. Either Jorgenson’s sentence should’ve been shorter, or Van Vleit’s much longer.
You ARE kidding, right? How can you even compare the two cases? One was (however haneous) reckless and accidental, and one was plotted and very deliberate and intentional. While the former ended in an unspeakable tragedy, the latter almost did too, at the hand of someone with malicious intent, and no care of the consequences. They can not be compared regarding sentencing one bit. The alcoholic took one life and forever altered several others including his own. Whether you feel his sentence was conservative or generous, this crime stands alone and has no relevant comparison to the Jorgenson crime. Jorgenson got off with a slap on the wrist. He tried to hire at least three separate people to kill his ex, and spoke of it often to anyone who lent a sympathetic ear. Even in court he testified that he knew that the hit would likely still happen but did NOTHING to call it off. I am sure that his ex will never be out of danger because his intent was crystal clear. Two separate cases. Decide what you want about sentence length, but one was a criminal tragedy that had no malicious intent, and the other was at the hand of a criminal mastermind, fully aware of what the end result of his efforts would be.
I can assure you that Chad Jorgenson is not a criminal mastermind. Although his “plan” was detailed and he had it all thought out, before the divorce he was just an average Joe who owned a business and coached youth soccer.
However, Van Vleit has been troubled for years. He’s stalked local female bartenders, a friend of mine included, and done other things as well (his complete record is no longer on the circuit court website, so im not sure on past offenses before the Good Nite Inn). After he was arrested, he jumped bail.
realdeal, after the facts neither are really criminal masterminds. One is a guy who ran into a crisis and made a very wrong decision, but it was a one time thing. The other is an alcoholic with a bad history who made many bad decisions. However, I do admire him for his letter and him trying to change his ways. I hope he spends the next 12 years committed to figuring out how he can live the rest of his life after prison in a positive manner.
DF2Y – where did you get the idea that Jorgenson coached youth soccer? His ex-wife and another two moms did for a season, and his ex-wife coached baseball for several years, but Jorgenson was never a coach. In fact, he rarely was ever even seen at his kid’s games, because he claimed that it was against his jehova witness religion to be in sports. He was a lot more than a swell guy who ran into a crisis, but I guess you don’t know much about who he really is.
I am hopeful that the alcoholic will really do some healing – both of himself and try to for all of his victims. I am sad to hear that he had a history of harrassing people if this is true – it sounds as if his life was plagued by his disease. What is best for everyone is if he can start healing himself while he serves his time. I would hate to think he’ll be released back into society with the same problems, and cause harm again.
I think it is important to take both crimes seriously. Both men likely got off to lightly in my opinion, but at least there is hope of rehabilitation for the alcoholic. Hopefully his sentence will include counseling, and programs that will give him the best shot at becoming a better person. Jorgenson is not going to change, no matter what. His problem is that he is a sociopath – charming and sweet on the outside, fooling people, but permanently evil inside. Remember Jeffrey Dahmer? Folks thought he was so nice. No one could believe he was so evil inside. He had everybody fooled. You can not rehabilitate that. No amount of therapy or medication will change that condition.
I’m glad we’re on the same page about VanVleit changing his ways. But my younger brother is in the same grade as his kids, and he did coach their team one season. I havent seen him much since he stopped his cleaning service, but before the divorce he was always a great guy and very professional in his business.
DF2Y, I think you have the two men confused. VanVleit isn’t the one who coached and had the cleaning service, that was Jorgenson.
No, I just worded that wrong. I should’ve started a new paragraph after my point of realdeal and myself agreeing about VanVleit trying to change his ways.
I have read thru all of these comments. I am a lifelong friend and have known Steve since highschool. He struggled and had issues with drinking his whole life and it is a horrific tragedy for all involved.
Steve had no children and two failed marriages. His alcoholism and actions landed him in prison as he entered his senior years in life. He was fun loving and worked HARD for a good pension that all went away when he entered prison. I cannot imagine a more terrible tragedy.
Tonight I just learned that Steve died 15 months ago. I wish he would have learned to control his problem. I will cherish my childhood memories with Steve
I knew Steve personally and his money did not come from drugs! He worked hard for his money most of his life. He was not a stalker either! He was not my family, but I grew up calling him uncle. He was one of the nicest people I have ever known and he had a huge heart. I am in no way excusing what he did, I just don’t want people making him out to be a drug dealer and a stalker. He had a horrible disease called alcoholism. This disease swallowed him up and caused terrible heartache for him and his family. I also believe that Mr. Uttke and the judge knowing that Steve had money, purposely continually set bail knowing that he would not be able to stay sober just to make money on him. Why else did they just keep posting a higher bail and letting Steve out when they should have kept him in jail and given him the help he needed?