A Shawano man arrested as part of an Internet sex sting operation pleaded no contest to a felony charge of child enticement Thursday, on the day he was scheduled to go to trial.
Jeffery D. Vadnais-Speck, 28, was initially charged with using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. The charge was amended to child enticement under the plea agreement.
The agreement also calls for the state to cap its recommended sentence at five years in prison before Vadnais-Speck would be released on parole. He could have faced a maximum 40 years in prison and $100,000 fine if found guilty of the original charge.
Vadnais-Speck is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 5 following a pre-sentence investigation.
According to the criminal complaint, Vadnais-Speck sent sexually explicit text messages to what he thought was a 15-year-old boy, but was actually an undercover officer who had responded to a Craigslist ad placed by Vadnais-Speck.
The complaint alleged Vadnais-Speck arranged to meet with the supposed 15-year-old and asked him to bring along an older friend. The officer responded he would bring along a 16-year-old male friend.
The information was passed along to Shawano police, who posed as the teens and arrested Vadnais-Speck at the rendezvous spot.
Vadnais-Speck was one of 17 people arrested around the state in March 2013 as part of Operation Black Veil. The operation originated with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force and involved undercover investigators making online contact with suspected offenders.
Several other defendants from that and subsequent operations still have cases pending in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court.