Fond du Lac man gets years in prison for drug related death

A Fond du Lac man received an 18 year sentence, Wednesday, September 16, 2026, for his role in the fentanyl-related death of another Fond du Lac man in 2022.

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says Matthew Gruetzmacher was convicted of second-degree reckless homicide for delivering fentanyl that resulted in the victim’s death.

Judge Laura Lavey sentenced Gruetzmacher to eight years of initial confinement followed by 10 years of extended supervision.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to an apartment on East Arndt Street in Fond du Lac on August 29th, 2022, for a welfare check. The victim was found dead in a bedroom.

Investigators found what appeared to be a line of white powder, a straw with white residue and an empty foil bindle near the victim. The complaint says the circumstances were consistent with the victim preparing to snort drugs.

Investigators then reviewed the victim’s phone records and identified the last person he had apparently purchased illegal drugs from as someone named “Matt.” Police identified that person as Gruetzmacher.

The complaint says investigators later interviewed Gruetzmacher. He initially denied supplying heroin to the victim, but later acknowledged selling him pills and said the victim had also used heroin. Gruetzmacher told investigators he couldn’t remember exactly what he sold the victim on August 26th, 2022, but said it could have been heroin.

Investigators also obtained DNA testing on the foil bindle found at the scene. The Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory found Gruetzmacher’s DNA on the bindle.

The Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner determined the victim’s cause of death was fentanyl toxicity.