Law&Crime Sidebar - Dad Who Faked Death to Be with Lover Faces Shocking Sentence

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

After vanishing for nearly three months and leaving his family to believe he had drowned, Wisconsin father Ryan Borgwardt has now been sentenced for faking his own death in an elaborate scheme to start a new life overseas. He disappeared for 89 days—and now he’ll spend that same amount of time behind bars. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down how investigators uncovered the ruse and what the judge ultimately decided.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Deeply regret the actions that I did that night and all the pain that I caused my family and friends. It's the ending no one saw coming in a case that captivated Wisconsin for more than a year. Ryan Borgwart, the husband and father who faked his own death, vanished overseas and left his family and community believing he was gone forever. Well, now he's finally faced a judge. We are going to break down everything that happened inside that corporate.

Welcome to Sideball, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Webber. Well, it is the twist ending to a story that's gripped Wisconsin for more than a year. And it is a case that we have covered quite extensively here on Sidebar. Pretty much every step of this bizarre investigation. If you've been following us for a bit, you will definitely remember this one, okay? Wisconsin father Ryan Borgwart, who apparently faked his own death, just took off for overseas and left his family and community believing he was dead.

He has now finally learned his fate in court. And during that official sentencing, the prosecutor didn't hold back. We now know that in the late evening of August 11th of 2024, the defendant arrived in Green Lake, Wisconsin and put in motion the final steps to his plan of faking his death so that he could disappear from his everyday life of being a husband and father in Wisconsin and realized his selfish and self-centered plan to travel overseas to be with a woman that he met online. And when it was Borgwart's turn to speak, he did. Now we'll get to that, we'll get to that emotional moment, we'll get to the part where the judge

makes the final decision and that is interesting to say the least. But first, let's rewind to the beginning. Back on August 11, 2024, 45-year-old Ryan Borgwart set out in Wisconsin's Green Lake and his kayak, telling his family that he was just, you know, going out on a routine fishing trip. Problem was, hours later, deputies find his kayak overturned, along with his fishing rod, his tackle box, his driver's license, even his phone. So obviously, the natural conclusion was it looked like he drowned.

And for nearly two months, law enforcement dive teams, the local community, they searched tirelessly, hoping to recover his body. For 58 days, the Green Lake County Sheriff's Department with the support and assistance from community mountains, Bruce's legacy, the Wisconsin Department of National Resources, Cadabber dogs, deep divers, fishermen, local businesses, regional and national law enforcement partners searched for the defendant. The defendant's family was left to believe that he was missing or worse dead. But as it turns out, Borgwart wasn't in Green Lake at all. He was already out of the country. Investigators got their first big break when they learned that his passport had been scanned at the Canadian border. And then when they dug into a laptop that his wife had handed over, the truth of his escape plan began to unfold. We made contacts.

a digital forensic analyst of a laptop that we were given through the wife searching that the disappearance that we have found that he was in some place in Europe through that forensic analyst

we recovered that he replaced his hard drive on the laptop. He cleared the browser on the day of his disappearance. He sank the laptop into the cloud on August 11th. He took photos of his passport. We found out that he moved funds to a foreign bank. changing his email and communication with a woman in Uzbekistan. He took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January, and he purchased airline cards due to these discoveries of the new evidence.

We were sure that Ryan was not in our lake. So authorities eventually tracked down this Russian-speaking woman that Borgward had been in contact with, and through her, they were able to reach out to him directly through email. And soon after, investigators got what they had been waiting for, a proof-of-life video from Borgward himself. November 11th, it's approximately 10 a.m. Are you guys? Safe, secure. Talking lawsuits here. You know who, by the way, are experts in litigation?

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a client in Florida received $12 million after the insurance company offered just $350,000. Out in Pennsylvania, a client was awarded $26 million. That is 40 times the insurer's $650,000 offer. Another client in Pennsylvania received $29 million after being offered only $500,000. And even if you think your case, isn't worth millions of dollars, why not start a claim and fight for what you deserve. Morgan and Morgan makes it so simple. You can start a claim from your phone in just eight clicks. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar by clicking the link below or scanning the QR code on screen. And then later on, he admits how he pulled off this whole elaborate scheme.

He stashed an e-bike near the boat launch. He paddled his kayak and a child's sized floating boat out into the lake. He overturned the kayak and dumped his phone in the lake. He paddled the inflatable boat to shore and got on his e-bike and rode through the night to Madison. In Madison, he boarded a bus and went to Detroit and then the Canadian border. He continued on the bus to an airport. report and got on a plane. We are continuing to verify this information, trying to put the dots together. But we feel that this was Ryan's way that he could tell the entire country how he did it. So according to a criminal complaint, after slipping across the Canadian border,

Borgwart then boarded a plane to Paris, and from there he eventually flew to the country of Georgia, and that is where he seemed to have started a new life, staying in a hotel with the help of a woman that he had met online, renting an apartment, which, by the way, turns out to be the same apartment where he recorded that proof-of-life video, and after weeks of back-and-forth communication, investigators were able to persuade him to come home. In fact, Sheriff Mark Podall later said that Borgwart's decision to return had to do with him wanting to make amends. And when he finally faced a judge in Wisconsin in December, he entered a plea of not guilty to the misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer.

But his first court appearance also just showed how unusual this case was. Because despite all the money that he apparently stashed away in his plan to disappear, he told the court he couldn't afford a lawyer. Sir, you do have the right to an attorney. You can hire your own. If you can't afford to contact the public defender's office, if you do not qualify for a public defender, you can ask this court to appoint one for you. Do you understand those options?

I do. I call this morning and I have to pay, so I can't pay for that I'll defend myself. Well, you do have the right to an attorney. You can ask this court to appoint one for you. You can have an attorney. You always have the right to an attorney. And all of that led up to this. week when Ryan Borgwart stood before a judge for sentencing on August 26th. After months of

denials and delays, he had changed his plea to no contest. In court, prosecutors, they laid out just how far he went to fake his own death and abandon his family. We now know that in the late evening of August 11th of 2024, the defendant arrived in Green Lake, Wisconsin, and put in motion the final steps to his plan of faking his death so that he could disappear from his everyday life of being a husband and father in Wisconsin and realized his selfish and self-centered plan to travel overseas to be with a woman that he met online. Months earlier, defendant began the extensive planning to execute this perfect plan to disappear from his normal life. He took out a size of a life insurance policy. Defendant transferred money overseas. He regularly communicated,

with the woman professing his love and desire to create a new life with her. 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. He researched and studied how to successfully disappear. He looked into how to fake the drowning and chose our beautiful lake, Green Lake,

which his research revealed would make his roots more believable. more believable. He believed that Green Lake's great depth would mean that a body would not surface. According to the defendant, his entire plan to fake his death, to devastate his family in order to serve his own selfish desires hinged on him, dying in the lake and selling his death to the world. His words. What defendant didn't count on was the great concern and dedication of the Green Lake County community and the dogged resolve of our law enforcement. Prosecutors argued that while Borgward thought he had planned the perfect escape, investigators in the Green Lake community, they never stopped searching.

For 58 days, the Green Lake County Sheriff's Department with the support and assistance from community members, Bruce's legacy, the Wisconsin Department of National Resources, cadaver dogs, deep divers, fishermen, local businesses, and national law enforcement partners searched for the defendant. The defendant's family was left to believe that he was missing or worse dead. Meanwhile, law enforcement was determined to help his family find closure and left no stone on turn, looking into any and all resources in an attempt to determine his fate. Through the use of national and international law enforcement tools,

58 days after the defendant faked his death, this investigation pivoted. law enforcement discovered that on August 13th of 2024, the defendant was encountered in Canada. Law enforcement would continue to dig and find the defendant flew from Canada into Europe, where he then went to the country of Georgia. Once there, he began to create a life with the woman he met on the internet, getting a job in an apartment. The defendant continued to covertly monitor the news to ensure that he was successful in faking his death. He took extra cautions while overseas so as to not leave a digital footprint that could lead to his discovery. In November, investigators made direct contact, and that is when Borgward finally admitted the elaborate steps he had taken to vanish.

Beginning on November 8, 2025, 89 days after the defendant faked his death, the Green Lake Sheriff's Office began a month-long electronic communication with the defendant. Chief Deputy Matt Van de Koke talked with him by electronic communication. The defendant admitted to his rooms. He admitted to the work he did, purchasing an e-bike, abandoning his vehicle, ditching the kayak on the lake along with his tackle box that had his driver's license in it and his fishing ride, stashing that e-bike and an extra battery along with clothes and money, riding through the night to the Madison area, where he dumped that e-bike. bike in a park and later boarded a Greyhound bus, which took him to Canada, flying then overseas

to accomplish his goal. The Sheriff's Department continued to communicate with the defendant for approximately one month, convincing him to return to Wisconsin to account for an answer to his actions. So the state asked the judge to hold Ryan Borwart accountable, not just for the deception, but also for the tens of thousands of dollars wasted in this massive search Shepherd. Wisconsin State Statute 973.06 in current 1 and current A.V. allows this court to impose the reasonable cost extended by a state or local law enforcement agency or emergency response agency to respond to or investigate the false information that the defendant provided or the physical evidence of the defendant placed. Costs allowed under this paragraph may

include personnel costs and costs associated with the use of police or emergency response be enrolled the total amount of recoverable costs in this case pursuant to that statute were calculated at 51,127.5 cents the state calculated this amount this amount only for the time period beginning august 11th the 2024 when the defendant faked his death on our leg up until that 58th day when that investigation pivoted when we discovered that he had been encountered in canada and then shifted that investigation. That was the term of the instruction. The total amount recoverable for the two departments that most actively were involved in the investigation for the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office, the amount of $35,522.73, and the Wisconsin Department

of Natural Resources, $15,604.32. This is the total amount recoverable by the statute, but certainly not the total costs of all the work done by community and federal partners. The parties have agreed upon the thoughtlessness, the resolution that the court is aware of, based upon the factors that the court must take into consideration at sentencing. The defendant, prior to today's date, was to pay the $30,000 that we negotiated, that will be split between the Sheriff's Department and the DNR to cover their costs for the investigation into the obstructing. That was done last week. This defendant's egregious obstruction along with the party's joint recommendation for 45 days in jail.

Court costs in a DNA sample is the recommendation that I stand behind and I'm asking the court to follow. Prior to today's date, Your Honor, the defendant had one prior criminal convictions. He now has a conviction for a crime of dishonesty. Certainly any criminal charge, conviction, and sentence that this court today hands down. will not be able to come close to undoing the incredible damage that this defendant by his premeditated selfish actions has done not only to his family but our community the destruction of his family can never be undone for months this defendant executed a series of plans that led to his children his wife his family our dedicated officers our community our partners to believe he was dead and while a misdemeanor conviction along with 45 days in jail payment of a portion of the costs expended by our law enforcement to discover his devastating act cannot begin to fix the damage he has done. It tells our community that we will hold individuals accountable and may also act as a deterrent to future destructive plans such as this.

Those that may wish to disappear on our notice that our community will not give out after a few days. We will continue to dig, and if we find that a crime has occurred, we will work to hold you accountable. Your Honor, I asked the court, follow the joint recommendations of the parties, accept the $30,000 payment of costs pursuant to the statute, sentenced the defendant to 45 days in the Greenland County jail, along with Hubert privileges, impose court costs, and accept the DNA sample. Now, the defense countered. They said, okay, listen, Borgwart, he's got no criminal history, he returned voluntarily, he was working to make amends. This is obviously a very unique case.

My client deeply regrets his decisions that he made initially. However, I think he's made some really good and positive decisions after those events. All of the decisions boil down the one thing, and that is that he is here taking responsibility. of his actions. When he first retained me, obviously I had to look at everything and advise him of the options he had moving forward. Those options were to take litigation path or to see if there was some way that we could amicably resolve this. Option one, obviously from a legal standpoint was quite interesting due to the facts of circumstances surrounding this case and whether or not a jury would believe that the conduct that he engaged in warranted a criminal

conviction but he did not want to go down that path and as we see here with the media attention he did not want to turn our community into that he wanted to accept responsibility for his actions he came back from Europe to take responsibility from his actions and I for his actions and I think that that's worth noting as well because this was a non-extraditable misdemeanor he didn't want to come back he didn't need to come back he did and he wanted to make amends and that's why he returned as the state has pointed out and as the court is aware he's repaid a significant amount of money for the costs associated with this per statute he's

45 years old. He has no prior criminal convictions. He's gainfully employed. I think briefly looking at the galleon factors, this makes sense. As to the gravity of the offense, it's a simple misdemeanor. Ultimately, Ryan Corop operated. He turned himself in. Character and rehabilitative needs. Other than this isolated incident, there's nothing to indicate any prior criminal history. There's nothing to indicate that any Department of Corrections, needs to be involved in any way, shape, or form. He's working, he's taking care of his obligations to his family. He's continuing his education.

And finally, the need to protect the public, as the state has discussed, I don't think that he's a danger to the community. I think perhaps what he did more than some punishment than his wide-beard grain that the 45-date jail term is appropriate. So I think based upon all of those factors, This is an appropriate recommendation I asked the court to follow it.

And when it was time for Ryan Borgwart to address the court, he kept it brief. I deeply regret the actions that I did that night and all the pain that I caused my family and friends. Then finally, Judge Mark Slate handed down his punishment. The defendant is facing a sentence on the crime of obstructing an officer. This is typically for someone who gives a false name or misleads an officer. It is not a serious crime, but it is a drain on police resources. In this case, the defendant led law enforcement to extend time and resources to search for him. That made more difficult the performance of their duties.

Now, the defendant asked that he didn't think law enforcement would search for him as long as they did. But the point is, the defendant's actions, faking his debt, required the Sheriff's Department to expend resources to search for him and then instructed law enforcement. The second factor the court looks at is the protection of the public. The court doesn't believe this is a factor in this case. The third factor the court looks at is rehabilitation. The defendant has no criminal history and has already paid the county $30,000 towards the cost extended in the search for the defendant. He is here accepting responsibility.

This leads the court to believe rehabilitation is not an issue in this case. The court recognizes the parties that the court recognizes the parties that the court, come to an agreement on 45 days in the county jail. However, the court notes there were 89 days from the date the defendant was declared missing on August 12th until the email from the Sheriff's Department to the defendant on November 8th. It was during these 89 days that the defendant faked his death, and then when he realized law enforcement knew he had not drowned by his own admission, he wanted to add as many layers as possible so he could not be found retracted by law enforcement.

He instructed law enforcement for a total of 89 days. He could have come forward before that time, but he decided not to. A factor the court can consider for sentencing is deterrence. For the defendant and anyone else who is thinking about faking their death. If you persist in your deception, the longer you obstruct, the longer you are duplicit, instead of coming forward and admitting your mistake, the longer the penalty should be. Court determines that the appropriate time for the defendant to spend in the county jail is the length of time he allowed his deception to continue. Therefore, the court sentence as the defendant to 89 days in the county jail.

So after vanishing for 89 days, Ryan Borgwart will now spend 89 days behind bars. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.