Standout student guilty of dealing pot gets second chance

Jackson Orlowski is a standout student who graduated from Grafton High School earlier this month and has been accepted to four universities, all of which have offered him scholarships and direct admission to their engineering schools, his lawyer Amy Scholz told an Ozaukee County judge last week.

His goal is to become an aerospace engineer.

This is the same Jackson Orlowski who, beginning when he was 17, sold more than a pound of marijuana to an undercover officer in September and October 2018 while he was a senior in high school, according to a criminal complaint.

Orlowski, who had a significant amount of marijuana with him when he was arrested on Nov. 28 in Grafton, was charged with six drug felonies. He pleaded guilty to three of those in April.

That left Judge Paul Malloy to wrestle with the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-esque life of a hard-working, high-achieving young man who also has the record of a drug dealer.

“I have to say I’m mystified how we ended up here today with this individual,” Malloy said during Orlowski’s June 6 sentencing hearing. “None of this seems to fit.”

Malloy withheld a prison sentence and placed Orlowski, who is now 18, on probation for four years. As a condition of probation, Malloy ordered him to serve seven months in prison — five months less than the jail time recommended by Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Sisley.

A seven-month jail sentence was one of two options proposed by Scholz. It will delay the beginning of her client’s college career and cost him his scholarships, but Orlowski will be able to begin classes at his chosen university second semester, she said.

At his request, Orlowski began serving his jail time on the day of his sentencing.

The other option suggested by Scholz was a three-month jail sentence that Orlowski could complete over the summer, allowing him to start college classes first semester and retain his scholarships.

Malloy, however, said his punishment must deter others from selling drugs.

“The worst thing that could happen is that anybody watching this thinks you came away from this unscathed,” he said. 

But the most important question, Malloy said, was whether Orlowski’s record should be expunged if he successfully completes his probation, something he requested and Sisley opposed.

Malloy said he researched what happened to three people he sentenced and whose requests for expungment he denied. They wound up in the prison system. 

“Not giving them anything to shoot for was maybe a mistake,” he said. 

If it was a mistake, Malloy wasn’t going to repeat it with Orlowski. He granted his request for expungment upon completion of probation.

“You are 18 years old, and 18-year-olds are known to make very bad mistakes,” Malloy told Orlowski. “You should not have a lifelong weight around your neck for something that happened when you were 18.

“I don’t want you to come back like the other three individuals I looked up.”

Earlier in the hearing, Sisley noted that Orlowski didn’t have a criminal record until his drug convictions but said the fact he sold significant amounts of marijuana was an aggravating factor that warranted four years probation and a year in jail.

Scholz, however, characterized Orlowski as an unsophisticated dealer who didn’t know enough to ask for money upfront from his customers and was taken advantage of by his suppliers in Milwaukee and Sheboygan.

“He actually lost money,” she said. “Frankly, I think Mr. Orlowski got taken. It’s just another indication he’s not a seasoned drug dealer.”

Scholz said the reason Orlowski sold significant quantities of marijuana to the undercover officer was because the officer requested those amounts.

“Jack didn’t offer them,” she said.

Noting that Orlowski doesn’t own a car and was seen by officers riding a skateboard to meet a driver who took him to Milwaukee to buy marijuana, Malloy said, “It doesn’t seem like you were leading the life of even a marginally successful drug dealer.”

Following his arrest, Orlowski, who was released from jail in lieu of a $50,000 signature bond, cut ties with acquaintances who used drugs, began drug and alcohol counseling, performed more than 160 hours of community service and focused on school, Scholz said. 

“Immediately following his arrest, he took steps to correct his poor decision making,” she said. “He essentially spent his senior year of high school at home with his parents or doing community service work.”

Scholz said that among the letters written to Malloy on Orlowski’s behalf ahead of his sentencing were those from two of his teachers at Grafton High School.

Orlowski told Malloy that he has no idea why he began selling marijuana.

“I fully understand that I made a terrible decision,” Orlowski said. “I was naive in thinking I wasn’t hurting anyone.”

Now, Orlowski said, he’s focused on pursuing his dream.

“I’ve always wanted to go to college,” he said. “I hope I get a second chance.”

Another Grafton teenager, Hayden L. Hacker, 18, is charged with one felony count of manufacturing-delivering marijuana as a party to the crime for driving Orlowski to an Oct. 3 drug deal with the undercover officer.

Hacker has pleaded not guilty.