A judge sentenced a Wisconsin man Tuesday who pleaded no contest after authorities accused him of faking his own death while kayaking and fleeing to Europe, according to WISN.
Ryan Borgwardt, 45, pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer, WISN reported. Judge Mark Slate sentenced Borgwardt to 89 days behind bars and ruled that he must pay a $30,000 restitution to be split by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“The court finds that the appropriate time for the defendant to spend in the county jail is the length of time he allowed his deception to continue,” Slate ruled.
Borgwardt tried to fake his own death in August 2024 while kayaking to leave his family behind and travel to Eastern Europe to be with a different woman, according to officials. He went to Green Lake, turned his kayak over, disposed of his phone and used an inflatable boat to reach the shore. He traveled roughly 70 miles during the night to Madison and rode a bus to Detroit before catching a plane in Canada.
A search conducted for over a month for Borgwardt’s remains cost no less than $50,000, the district attorney said. Borgwardt told officials he faked his demise due to “personal matters” and didn’t expect them to carry out such a long search for him. He came back to the U.S. in December and authorities arrested him.
Borgwardt spoke while pleading no contest to the misdemeanor charge. “I deeply regret the actions that I did that night and all the pain that I caused my family and friends,” Borgwardt said, according to KTUL. (RELATED: ‘Horrific Shooting’ Reported At Catholic School)
The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call on Aug. 12, 2024 about somone who did not return home. Authorities searched a county lake but did not find Borgwardt’s body. They discovered he was in Europe after analyzing his laptop, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said. The sheriff also claimed Borgwardt sent money to an international bank, changed his email account and was in contact with a Uzbekistani woman.
A similar incident occurred in September 2023 when police arrested a missing kayaker in Georgia after he allegedly tried to fake his death to avoid child-sex charges.