Plea deal reached in fatal Waupaca County beating

WAUPACA, Wis. — One of two men charged with a fatal beating in Waupaca County has been convicted.

Twenty-five-year-old Adam Ozuna has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of first-degree reckless homicide in the 2016 death of Matthew Pagel.

Ozuna could have faced a mandatory life sentence had he been convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, the original charge. WLUK-TV reported the current maximum sentence is 60 years.

According to prosecutors, Ozuna and Zachary Hohn allegedly picked Pagel up from a motel in Clintonville last April. Pagel was looking to buy the drug Adderall, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Ozuna and Hohn offered to drive Pagel to get some Adderall, but instead beat him to death in the car and robbed him. Ozuna faces sentencing May 30. Hohn is scheduled for trial in June.

COPYRIGHT 2023 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.