Mother of accused teen dealer faces drug charges

Grafton police officers tipped off to suspected drug dealing at a house on Ninth Avenue on Saturday pulled over several cars leaving the house, and what they found, according to Police Chief James Caponera, was “alarming.”

Most of the people in the vehicles were juveniles who were in possession of marijuana, according to the police department.

A short time later, at 11:24 p.m. on Oct. 10, officers searched the home and were told by a 15-year-old boy who lives there that he has been selling increasing quantities of marijuana for months, according to court records.

The teenager’s mother, 45-year-old Jessica L. Knox, and her boyfriend, Brian D. Stephan, 49, were home at the time and are now charged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with running a drug house.

According to the criminal complaint, Knox told an officer she had no idea her son was dealing marijuana. Stephan said he wasn’t aware that the teenager was selling drugs either but did know he smoked marijuana occasionally. The officer then asked Stephan to explain how he didn’t realize the teen was selling marijuana when there were roaches, or marijuana butts, in the room and it smelled of pot.

When questioned by officers, the teenager admitted without hesitation that he had been selling marijuana for about five months, starting with about an ounce a week and working his way up to a pound, the complaint states.

The teen said he orders drugs via Snapchat from a seller he doesn’t know and receives them in the mail from California. After he receives them, he said, he Snapchats another unknown person who meets him near his house to collect payment, according to the complaint.

The teenager said that he and his partner sell marijuana and THC vape cartridges to people in Grafton and Cedarburg and that he nets $200 to $300 a week, the complaint states.

He said his mother wasn’t aware he was selling drugs but Stephan knew, adding that when he told him he had received a pound a marijuana, Stephan said something to the effect of, “That’s cool,” according to the complaint. 

Officers who searched the house found marijuana, LSD tabs and drug paraphernalia in the teenager’s room and in the bedroom of Knox and Stephan, the complaint states.

The teenager was arrested and turned over to his father. Authorities have requested that he be charged with several drug offenses in juvenile court.

In addition to felony charges of maintaining a drug trafficking place, Knox and Stephan face misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, LSD and drug paraphernalia.

Knox was released from jail in lieu of a $2,500 signature bond at 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, and minutes later violated the conditions of her release when she stole a bicycle from outside the jail, according to a complaint filed Tuesday charging her with felony bail jumping.

After the bike was reported missing, authorities reviewed surveillance footage and saw Knox riding away from the jail on it. They found the bike in the backyard of Knox’s home in Grafton. She told authorities that she had no other way to get home and thought the bikes on a rack outside the jail were there for anyone to take, the complaint states.