Lawrence E. Lavergne, Methamphetamine Trafficking & Illegal Gun Possession, Wisconsin 2023

Man Gets 9 Years for Meth and Gun Charges

MADISON, WIS. – A Wausau man has been sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine and possessing a firearm as a felon. Lawrence E. Lavergne, 41, was sentenced on January 2023 by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley.

Lavergne was found to have sold 24 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant on February 21, 2022 in a hotel room in Rothschild. He then leapt out of the second story hotel room window when officers announced themselves at the door. Over $7,000 in cash was found on him, including $500 in prerecorded buy money from the drug deal earlier that day.

A total of 233 grams of methamphetamine were located in the hotel room along with drug trafficking paraphernalia. The next day, a woman contacted law enforcement to report that there were two firearms at her house in Antigo, Wisconsin that she believed belonged to Lavergne. Officers responded and located a Hi-Point 9mm handgun, a Masterpiece Arms 9mm handgun, two loaded magazines, and a container with 9mm ammunition. Lavergne's DNA was found on both handguns.

Lavergne was legally prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition based on multiple prior felony convictions. The firearms charge was filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, then transferred to the Western District when the defendant pleaded guilty.

At the time of these events, Lavergne was on state extended supervision in three separate cases, including a case involving drug trafficking and a case involving possessing a firearm as a felon. Lavergne's supervision has since been revoked in those cases and he has been re-confined in state prison with an anticipated release date of July 16, 2023. Judge Conley ordered that Lavergne's 9-year federal sentence start immediately and run concurrently with the remainder of his state sentences.

Lavergne pleaded guilty to the charges on February 14, 2023. He was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison followed by 8 years of supervised release. The charges against Lavergne were the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI's Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwi/pr/marathon-county-man-sentenced-9-years-methamphetamine-trafficking-illegal-gun