Beloit Woman Sentenced to 30 Months for Sale of Cocaine

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Dominique Holsten, 35, Beloit, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 30 months in federal prison for distributing cocaine.  This prison term will be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release.  Holsten pleaded guilty to this charge on May 15, 2023.

In the fall of 2021, Holsten’s husband, Depronce Burnett, distributed cocaine and methamphetamine, primarily out of the couple’s home in Beloit.  Even after his arrest by Beloit Police on September 30, 2021, Burnett directed the further sale of cocaine and methamphetamine by calls from the jail to his wife, Dominique Holsten, with sales continuing until police executed search warrants at their Beloit home on October 27, 2021.  There, officers found hidden stashes of illegal narcotics including more than 900 grams of cocaine, over 500 grams of methamphetamine, and $87,000 in U.S. currency.

In deciding upon a sentence for Holsten, Judge Conley noted that Holsten had no previous history of any involvement in narcotics trafficking.  Conley attributed her involvement in sales she performed to the control and direction of her husband.  Burnett had a significant number of prior convictions for trafficking in narcotics over many years. 

Burnett was sentenced by Judge Conley on August 8, 2023, to an 11-year prison term for possessing for distribution the large amounts of drugs discovered in the search of the home, plus numerous documented drug sales.

The charges against Holsten and Burnett were the result of an investigation conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, the Beloit and Janesville Police Departments, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  The prosecution of this case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson.