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Deal discussed in Prairie du Chien case of suspected Venezuelan gang member

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Alejandro Coronel-Zarate mug shot-late 2024

A plea deal may be in the works for a suspected Venezuelan gang member arrested in Prairie du Chien last fall.  

Alejandro Coronel-Zarate has three felony and three misdemeanor charges against him after his arrest last September.  The felonies involve 2nd Degree Sexual Assault, Child Abuse and Strangulation and Suffocation.  

During an argument, he choked the woman he was staying with according to the criminal complaint. The woman’s daughter was hurt when she tried to intervene.  The woman said she was also sexually assaulted by Coronel-Zarate.

He’s currently in the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun. In April, a Dane County Judge sentenced him to one year in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and disorderly conduct.  

In Monday’s Crawford County hearing, online court records show that his attorney, Michelle Marie Dietrich, said there’s a plea offer that her client will likely accept, but that she needed to discuss it with him first.  

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Crawford County Judge Lukas Steiner set a court hearing for July 14 to see if the matter is resolved.  

Prairie du Chien Police Chief Kyle Teynor, last fall, said that Coronel-Zarate is suspected of being affiliated with Tren de Aragua, what he called a transnational criminal organization.  

Kevin Millard is News Director for WIZM News. A West Salem native, he's spent most of his life, except for a year each in Florida and Wausau, here in the La Crosse area. Broadcasting and the media has been a part of his life since he was filmed in his first commercial in 2nd Grade. Most of his career has been spent working behind the scenes in the newsroom at a local television station. He's been the host of WKTY Outdoors since October 2005.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Scott Wilkerson

    May 18, 2025 at 8:47 pm

    Deal struck. Give him free room and board and community service and a signature bond. Dont forget shelter at a hotel under tax payer dollers. Same news blah blah blah.

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