9-year sentence for fatal overdose in Portage County

A man has been sentenced in Portage County to nine years in prison for his role in a fatal drug overdose.

Jason Meisel, 46, earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Gary Mayek of Junction City.

Meisel and Mayek were together Jan. 5, 2019, at the Super 8 Hotel in Plover doing drugs when Mayek died, according to a criminal complaint. An autopsy found “a lot of drugs” including fentanyl in Mayek’s system, the complaint said.

Wausau Daily Herald Media reports Meisel told police he and Mayek snorted cocaine mixed with methamphetamine that night.

The complaint said Meisel admitted to providing the drugs, but said he did not spike them with fentanyl and that Mayek’s overdose was an accident.

Portage County Circuit Judge Thomas Flugaur Wednesday also sentenced Meisel to six years of extended supervision, starting when his current prison time ends Dec. 14, 2022. Meisel is serving a sentence on an unrelated crime at the Redgranite Correctional Institute.