A married father from Wisconsin, who attempted to stage his own death in a kayaking mishap and then escaped to Eastern Europe, has been sentenced to a little over 12 weeks in jail.
Last summer, Ryan Borgwardt allegedly concocted this elaborate scheme to join his lover in Georgia. He entered a no contest plea to the charge of obstructing an officer on Tuesday.
Judge Mark Slate sentenced Borgwardt, a 45-year-old resident of Watertown, to 89 days in jail, matching the duration he deceived authorities last year, as reported by ABC affiliate WISN12.
Slate remarked, “The appropriate duration for the defendant’s stay in the county jail is equivalent to how long he prolonged his deceit.”
The judge also ordered him to pay $30,000 in costs to Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Green Lake County District Attorney Gerise LaSpisa commented, “No criminal charge, conviction, and sentence delivered today can come close to reversing the tremendous harm this defendant’s calculated, selfish actions have inflicted, not only upon his family but also upon our community.”
Borgwardt was charged with obstruction related to the $30,000 manhunt which was launched following his disappearance on August 11, 2024.
In October, police discovered that the father of three had crossed into Canada shortly after vanishing and had been in contact with a woman from Uzbekistan who spoke Russian.
Ryan Borgwardt, a married Wisconsin father who tried to fake his own death in a kayak accident before fleeing to eastern Europe, has been jailed for just over 12 weeks
Pictured: Married Wisconsin father Ryan Borgwardt who tried to fake his own death in a kayak accident before fleeing overseas in court following his dramatic return to the US last year
Borgwardt was charged with obstruction related to a massive manhunt which was launched following his disappearance on August 11 to which he pleaded not guilty
‘He regularly communicated with the woman, professing his love and desire to create a new life with her,’ LaSpisa said, per WISN12.
‘He reversed his vasectomy, he applied for a replacement passport, claiming that his original one, which his wife found in the family safe in its normal place, was lost or stolen.’
Police did not release details of where he was staying or who he was with while he was missing. They confirmed that Borgwardt flew back into an international airport in the US of his own volition.
Authorities spent 54 days looking for the Wisconsin man before announcing on November 8 that they didn’t believe he had drowned in the lake, but rather had faked his own death.
They revealed that he deliberately flipped his kayak and dumped his phone and belongings in the water before paddling to safety on an inflatable boat and e-biking more than 50 miles to Madison overnight.
Borgwardt had been talking to the woman in Uzbekistan before he obtained a new passport and a $375,000 life insurance policy in January.
Wisconsin father Ryan Borgwardt, who tried to fake his own death in a kayak accident and fled overseas, decided to return to the US ‘for his family’ police said
Authorities learned in October that Borgwardt had crossed the border into Canada a few days after his disappearance and had been communicating with a Uzbek woman who spoke Russian, leaving behind his wife Emily (pictured) and kids
Police managed to establish contact and in November, Borgwardt – who had not contacted his family since his disappearance – sent a video in which he showed off his apartment, telling officers: ‘I am safe, secure, no problems.’
But the same could not be said for his heartbroken family, who were being supported by the Sheriff’s Office.
‘They are doing okay, that’s probably the best thing you could say,’ Vande Kolk explained in November.
‘I can’t compare their situation to anything I have ever experienced in law enforcement before, I don’t have any reference.’
Borgwardt told authorities that he faked his death because of ‘personal matters,’ Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said.
He also told them that he picked Green Lake for his master plan because it’s the deepest in Wisconsin.
He has since returned to the US of his own volition and is being held in Green Lake County Jail
Sheriff Mark Podoll refused to say where Borgwardt had been, but it is thought he fled to Eastern Europe
The scheme was elaborately planned.
Borgwardt left his original passport at home when he vanished, and police said he tried to cover his tracks by removing his laptop hard drive and wiping his search history clean.
Before his disappearance, he also changed all the email addresses linked to his bank accounts and moved money to a foreign bank account.
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll said he ‘could not be more proud’ of his officers in helping bring Borgwardt to justice.
