Warren Bluhm, wbluhm@wolfrivermedia.com
ZACHARY ROMNEK
A Neenah man has been sent to prison for up to six years after he violated the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement from a 2014 drunken driving crash that killed his best friend.
Zachary John Edward Romnek, 23, was serving five years of state Department of Corrections probation, with the condition of one year in the county jail, for a felony charge of homicide by intoxicated use of vehicle in connection with the March 29, 2014, death of Thorton Lee Gressler, 19, of Bonduel, in the town of Riverview.
Oconto County Judge Michael T. Judge ordered the probation in 2014 after he imposed and then stayed a 10-year sentence, which included five years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision.
On a second charge, driving while his driver’s license was suspended and causing death, Judge approved a 10-year deferred prosecution agreement. Both the probation and the deferred prosecution agreement carried a number of conditions, including absolute sobriety and a requirement that Romnek speak at a local high school at least once a year regarding the consequences of drinking and driving.
According to court documents, Kathleen Gressler, Thorton’s grandmother, wrote the judge in April to say her family had learned Romnek violated his parole by drinking. She also said he had avoided the speaking requirement by sending a video while all other speakers appeared in person.
She asked that the probation be revoked and Romnek sent to prison, where he could be required to get treatment for alcohol and other drug abuse.
“I have a heavy heart about this request, but I feel it has to be made,” Gressler wrote. “Zach was handed an opportunity with the original sentencing, and he has chosen not to take advantage of it. I believe he should pay the consequences.”
Other members of the Gressler family wrote that Romnek did not appear to be remorseful.
After an investigation, Romnek’s probation and deferred prosecution agreement were revoked June 15, he was taken into custody to serve the five-year prison term on the first charge, and a sentencing hearing was scheduled for Aug. 11 on the charge that originally had been deferred.
At that hearing Judge added one year of prison followed by two years of extended supervision, to be served consecutive to the first charge, for a total of six years of incarceration and seven years of further Department of Corrections supervision.
The judge also ruled that Romnek is eligible for alcohol and other drug abuse treatment programs while in prison.
The court received more than 30 letters from Romnek’s family and friends, including his fiancee.
Romnek also sent a handwritten letter addressed to Gressler’s family, in which he said he did the video because he has trouble expressing himself and that he does feel remorse. He describes Thorton Gressler as his best friend and “my other half.”
Although he is getting married, Romnek wrote that a part of him dreads his wedding day because of Gressler’s death.
“I don’t have my best man anymore,” he said. “It’s a day that’s supposed to be the happiest day of my life. And the whole day I’ll be thinking about how something, and someone, is missing.”
The night of the crash, Romnek told deputies he had been drinking with friends at Diamond Dave’s in Crooked Lake and decided to travel to Pipeline, an area north of Crooked Lake where trucks drive off-road. He said he was driving about 35 mph when he lost control on icy roads.
The pickup truck left County Road W south of Martha Lane and struck a tree. Gressler, a back-seat passenger, was killed in the crash, and two other passengers fled the scene, concerned they would be punished for underage drinking, according to the criminal complaint.
Tests showed Romnek’s blood alcohol level to be 0.11 percent. Wisconsin’s legal limit is 0.08.