No contest plea entered to operating motel without license

Shawano Leader, Wisconsin/September 27, 2006

Kalmar G. Gronvall, 62, pleaded no contest Tuesday afternoon to charges of being a party to operating the Best Western Village Haus without the necessary permits.

Gronvall was named as the defendant in the criminal complaint as an agent for Midwest Hotels and Motels of Shawano, LLC.

He was initially charged with three counts of being party to the crime of selling alcohol, operating a motel and operating a restaurant without the necessary state permits.

Gronvall pleaded no contest to the sale of alcohol and operating a restaurant charges. The charge dealing with the operation of the motel was dropped as part of the plea agreement.

The court ordered Gronvall to pay a total of $794 in fines and court costs.

District attorney Gary Robert Bruno said the sentence was consistent with other sentencings for the same offense.

The violations in the criminal complaint against Gronvall dealt with the period of April 16 to May 25 of last year, during the time the property was changing hands to the new owners.

"Information received indicated that it was suspected that the business had been sold and was being operated by new ownership starting as early as April 15, 2005, but application for retail alcohol licenses had not been made until May 3, 2005 and the licenses were not granted until May 25, 2005," Department of Revenue special agent Rick Uhlig wrote in a report included in the complaint.

Neither Gronvall nor his attorney had any comment when the court asked if they wanted to make any statement.

Midwest Hotels is a subsidiary of the Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology.