Dane County Judge Susan Crawford sentenced a fourth-offense drunk driver who was an illegal immigrant to work-release jail, just months after giving him a break on a separate domestic-violence case, Wisconsin Right Now has documented.
The total sentence that Crawford gave Armando Cadena-Valencia on Feb. 20, 2019? Only four months in the Huber Jail as a condition of 2 years probation. She withheld any other sentence.
She could have given him up to 6 years in prison for the class H felony. The short sentence came even though his 3rd offense OWI occurred just eight months before the 4th. Crawford agreed to dismiss three other charges, including resisting an officer because police say Cadena-Valencia provided a false name.
A year before, the same illegal immigrant also came before Crawford, this time on a domestic-violence related battery charge. That time, she gave Cadena-Valencia probation, with no jail time at all. His probation was eventually revoked, and she then ordered him to serve eight months in work-release jail. Court Commissioner Scott McAndrew gave him a $500 signature bond in that case. The revoked sentence was “deemed served.”
Court Commissioner Jason Hanson gave Cadena Valencia bail of just $500 cash for the 4th offense OWI. His bail was amended to $100 by Judge Nicholas McNamara, court records show. Crawford then inherited the case and made no move to increase his bail. The defendant required an interpreter in court. Court records indicate he remained in custody, however…