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DuPage board candidate pleads guilty in Wisconsin dispute case

Saying he has learned from his mistake, the Democratic nominee for a DuPage County Board seat pleaded guilty this week to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a domestic dispute earlier this year in Wisconsin.

Jeremy Custer, 26, of Glendale Heights, in April was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and resisting or obstructing an officer after getting into argument with his girlfriend in a Madison, Wisconsin, apartment.

During a brief court appearance Tuesday in Wisconsin, Custer pleaded guilty to the disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property charges. The resisting or obstructing an officer charge was dismissed, records show.

“I regret this happened and I'm happy it's resolved,” said Custer, who will face incumbent Republican county board member Grant Eckhoff of Wheaton during November's general election. “I look forward to putting it behind me.”

Whoever wins the race will get a 4-year term representing county board District 4, which includes all or parts of Addison, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights, Lisle, Lombard, Wheaton and Winfield.

Custer's April 15 arrest came less than a month after he defeated M. Moon Khan of Lombard in the Democratic primary.

After his arrest, Custer announced he would stay in the county board race.

“I still maintain this will not diminish my ability to serve the constituents of the 4th District,“ he said.

Custer, who works for state Sen. Tom Cullerton, said he hopes voters will look at his credentials and what he has accomplished.

“Those are who I am — not this one mistake,” he said.

Custer said he learned from what happened and apologized to his girlfriend.

“We're as committed as ever and are moving forward together,” he said.

Despite his guilty plea, Custer still can avoid being convicted and sentenced for both offenses, according to his attorney, Marcus Berghahn.

That's because Wisconsin law allows for some misdemeanors to be dismissed if a defendant doesn't get into additional legal trouble over a certain period of time.

“As long as he (Custer) doesn't get into any trouble, the case will be dismissed,” said Berghahn. He said he expects Custer's case to be dismissed sometime in the next six to nine months.

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