Waukesha Man Charged in Fatal Drug Overdose

A 27-year-old Waukesha man is facing charges under the Len Bias Law for the January death of a Pewaukee man.

was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Thursday with one count of first-degree reckless homicide for allegedly selling drugs that lead to the death of David A. Gapinski. If convicted, Jeske faces up to 40 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Jan. 6, Gapinski died of an overdose of Oxycodone inside a home in the 300 block of Morris Street in Pewaukee. A toxicology report on his body by the Waukesha County medical examiner’s office revealed the amount of the drug in his body was consistent with an 80-milligram tablet of Oxycodone.

The Pewaukee Police Department and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency then launched an investigation into Gapinski’s death and how he obtained the drugs, which lead to Jeske via a third party.

An informant who purchased the drugs with Gapinski told investigators he obtained the pills from Jeske on Jan. 5 after they went to a gas station on North 55th Street and West Vilet Street in Milwaukee.  

Jeske called another person on a telephone at the gas station, took the informant’s money and walked down the street to meet his source for the drug. He came back with two Oxycontin pills, which the informant split between himself and Gapinski.

The informant and Gapinski immediately consumed the pills and the three then drove back to Waukesha County.

At about 12:30 a.m. Jan. 6, Gapinski told the informant he was on the verge of getting sick, saying “I am messed up and I feel faded,” and then asked “If people die from taking too much Oxycontin.”

Jeske admitted to investigators in taking part in the drug deal saying, he met a woman he purchases the drug from in Milwaukee, who sells them for $35 per pill.

Jeske made $5 per pill profit on the transaction that eventually killed Gapinski.  

Jeske will make his initial appearance in court Oct. 27. He currently remains out of custody.