Brief: Court

By Katherine Nettles

Wickenhauser sentenced to four years in community corrections facility

Gunnison Valley resident Bryan Wickenhauser, who pled guilty on April 19 to the class 2 felony of distributing a controlled substance, was sentenced on Monday, June 10 in Gunnison District Court. The hearing lasted more than two hours with sentencing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense, and character witnesses testifying on behalf of Wickenhauser as a family man and recommending leniency. Judge Steven Patrick presided over the hearing, and sentenced Wickenhauser to four years in a community corrections facility in Montrose, with one day of credit for his previous time served. He was also ordered to pay $3,433.50 in court costs.

Wickenhauser was immediately remanded into custody with the Gunnison County Sheriff’s department, and sheriff Adam Murdie said Wickenhauser will stay at the Gunnison County Jail until there is a bed available for him at Advantage Treatment Center (ATC) Community Corrections in Montrose. Eligibility for early release or probation will be left to ATC to decide, according to Gunnison District Court staff.   

Wickenhauser, along with Dominic Danni, was arrested in September 2023 at the I Bar Ranch in Gunnison on drug trafficking charges. Danni has pled not guilty and is scheduled for a trial by jury on August 26.

Former deputy public information officer Jon Sarche with the Colorado Judicial Department said a class 2 felony charge can carry a sentence of four to eight years in prison, terms that could be doubled if aggravating circumstances are found, and/or fines up to $750,000.