The attorney for a farmer acquitted on three of four charges relating to his sale of raw milk said Saturday he was shocked that prosecutors now want to revoke his client's bail.
"It seems vindictive to me," said the attorney, Glenn Reynolds. "Put a father of 10 in jail after he's largely acquitted? I'm very disappointed. What else can I say?"
State officials asked a Sauk County judge Friday to revoke Vernon Hershberger's bail, online circuit court records show.
In a Capital Times report Hershberger is quoted as saying he never stopped selling raw milk and other farm products to members of his "buyers club" despite being barred from doing so until he obtained a license, part of the conditions of his bail set early in 2012.
Hershberger, 41, was acquitted May 25 on three charges of producing, processing and selling milk without proper state licenses. He was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of violating a holding order on products on his farm after a 2010 raid by agents from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Hershberger was charged in December 2011. He's been free on a $500 signature bond that included several conditions related to farm activities and license requirements.
Reynolds said Saturday that he anticipates there would have to be a lengthy hearing on the state's request to revoke bail, which would likely delay sentencing on the holding order violation.
"Vernon Hershberger has been through enough," Reynolds said. "It's time for DATCP to have a conversation, first with itself, then with Vernon Hershberger about how to keep people on the farm."
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