4 sentenced in connection to morphine distribution problem in Boscobel

DOJ: 34-year-old sold morphine to confidential informant 3 times

MADISON, Wis. — A Boscobel man was sentenced to federal prison without parole and three other Boscobel residents were sentenced Tuesday for distributing morphine, according to a state Department of Justice release.

Craig D. Bellis, 34, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison without parole, followed by six years of supervised release, officials said. Bellis pleaded guilty to the charge on April 15.

Bellis sold four morphine pills on three occasions in April 2013, to a confidential informant working for the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force, according to the release. The purchases were part of an ongoing investigation into morphine distribution in the Boscobel area.

On May 20, Brent A. Venglish, 46, and Thomas Kussmaul, 24, both of Boscobel, were sentenced to a four-month prison term, to be followed by three years of supervised release also for distributing morphine in Boscobel, according to the release. On April 15 Mary Grant, 64, of Boscobel, was sentenced to two years of probation for her role in the distribution of morphine in the area.

Investigators discovered that Bellis distributed additional morphine between August 2011 and March 2013, officials said.