By Vicky Wedig
Staff writer
A woman who pleaded guilty in a 2017 meth cook that sparked a fire at a Lake Geneva hotel is scheduled to be sentenced May 28.
Melissa E. Kuen, 38, who has appeared in court at least twice to be sentenced but proceedings have been sidetracked, asked the court April 8 to reschedule her April 11 sentencing hearing. It is now set for May 28.
Kuen’s attorney, Stephen Compton, told the court at her sentencing hearing Sept. 6 that Kuen was not ready to proceed because she felt she was pressured into entering a plea.
Compton became Kuen’s attorney on May 11, 2018, and said Kuen did not feel she knowingly and voluntarily entered the plea. Compton said he believes counsel was ineffective and asked for time to investigate that assertion.
Julia May was Kuen’s attorney from July 6, 2017, to May 11.
Compton was preparing a motion to withdraw Kuen’s plea but told the court Feb. 14 that Kuen no longer wishes to do so.
Kuen originally appeared in court April 27 to be sentenced after pleading guilty to manufacturing or delivering methamphetamine. The sentencing was delayed until June 29 after a judge learned victims in the case had not been notified of the April 27 hearing. The defense requested that hearing be reset as well.
Kuen pleaded guilty Feb. 26, 2018, to manufacturing or delivering methamphetamine. Charges of knowingly possessing meth waste and possession of drug paraphernalia against her were dismissed.
She faces up to 12 ½ years in prison and $25,000 in fines.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to The Cove for a fire in Room 314 at about 3:15 a.m. Jan. 9, 2017. In the room, police encountered Patrick McBean, who had burns to his hands and his facial hair appeared to have been burned off, according to the complaint. Smoke inside the room was thick and had a chemical odor that the officer reported burned his lungs and mouth as he breathed, according to the complaint.
A pot with water was boiling on the stove in the room with a box of cough medicine floating in it, and the bathroom had burn marks on the walls and charred debris throughout, including the partially filled tub, according to the complaint. Police believe the fire occurred in the bathroom near the toilet and reported seeing burnt pieces of clothing and blood on the carpet throughout the room, according to the complaint.
McBean told police a woman was cooking food in the room, burned it and then left, according to the complaint.
At the same time police were responding to the situation at The Cove, emergency services were called to the nearby Mill Creek Motel for a woman there who was badly burned and was taken to Froedtert Hospital, according to the complaint. The burned woman was Kuen, who is believed to have left The Cove and walked toward the Mill Creek Hotel calling for help after conducting a meth cook at The Cove that exploded and burned her.
