Courts

Bolstad being released from prison after years behind bars for robbery attempt

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2022

After serving four years in state prison for a robbery attempt, a La Crosse man is being released, and will spend a short time on supervision.

A Wisconsin state appeals court recently reversed Randy Bolstad’s existing 5-year prison sentence because of an error by the circuit court, and ordered a resentencing by a different judge.

In court on Wednesday, Judge Todd Bjerke urged Bolstad to continue his treatment for mental health concerns.

Bolstad’s sentence arose from a 2016 incident, where he allegedly threatened his nephew with a baseball bat to get money from him.

“I’m no kid any more,” Bolstad told the judge over Zoom from a Green Bay prison. “I’m 47 years old, and I came to the realization that life is too short to spend even a single day in a prison cell.”

Bolstad was given 15-hundred days credit for time served on his past convictions.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.