A Milwaukee man has been ordered to serve 15 years in prison for his role in a Fond du Lac County fentanyl overdose that turned deadly, after entering a no contest plea to second-degree reckless homicide. The sentence, handed down Tuesday, includes nine years of initial confinement followed by six years of extended supervision. The woman at the center of the case died after an overdose later linked by toxicology to fentanyl, which prosecutors say Oden helped put in her path.
According to WFRV Local 5, 38-year-old Don Oden entered the plea as part of an agreement that wiped out multiple other charges, including manufacture/deliver fentanyl and several bail-jumping counts. Prosecutors said the deal also resolved allegations of possession with intent and maintaining a drug-trafficking place. Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric J. Toney, pointing to the toll fentanyl is taking across the region, said “parents are continuing to bury their children from the devastating impact of fentanyl in our communities,” calling the sentence a “small measure of justice” for the victim’s family.
Plea Deal Closes Multi-Count Probe
Prosecutors say the plea and sentence close out an investigation that tracked pills from a source in Milwaukee to the victim who died in January 2025. Fond du Lac County has increasingly turned to reckless-homicide prosecutions in fatal overdose cases as a way to hold suppliers accountable when fentanyl is involved. As reported by the Wisconsin Law Journal, the district attorney’s office has already secured convictions and prison terms in several similar fentanyl-related homicide cases in recent years.
Local And National Fentanyl Backdrop
Fond du Lac County health reports show fentanyl has been a major driver in local overdose deaths, with synthetic opioids featuring prominently in fatality data from 2020 through 2022. According to Fond du Lac County, fentanyl and fentanyl-mixed deaths made up a sizeable share of the county’s overdose toll in recent reporting cycles. Nationally, the CDC reports that synthetic opioids, primarily illicitly made fentanyl, were involved in roughly 69% of overdose deaths in 2023. Prosecutors say that reality is the backdrop for using homicide charges when overdoses turn fatal.
What The Law Says
Under Wisconsin law, second-degree reckless homicide applies when someone “recklessly causes the death of another human being,” which requires proof that the defendant created an unreasonable and substantial risk of death and was subjectively aware of that risk. The crime is classified as a Class D felony and is the statute prosecutors relied on in Oden’s plea. For the full statutory language, see Wis. Stat. § 940.06.
Prosecutors said the plea resolved charges that had included manufacture/deliver fentanyl, possession with intent for designer drugs and maintaining a drug-trafficking place, with those counts dismissed as part of the agreement, WFRV Local 5 reported. Court filings identified Oden as a Milwaukee resident, and he will be processed into the state corrections system under standard procedures to begin serving his sentence.
Toney said his office intends to keep bringing cases tied to lethal fentanyl doses while also pushing for prevention and treatment efforts alongside prosecution. For related coverage of Fond du Lac’s approach in similar cases involving another Milwaukee dealer, see Hoodline’s earlier report on a separate Fond du Lac fentanyl death verdict.
