Biography
Van L. Mayes, 37, of Milwaukee, allegedly planned to firebomb the Milwaukee PD District 7 station during the August 2016 Sherman Park rioting (sparked by the fatal police shooting of Sylville Smith). The firebombing did not occur. Faced 2018-2019 indictments for arson, firearms, and civil disorder; pleaded guilty in 2024 Bill of Information to using interstate facility to organize a riot. Sentenced October 2024 to time served (92 months).
Executed sentence and unresolved initial discharge review October 13, 2026: Original FOX6 courtroom reporting establishes January 22, 2025 sentencing to three days time served, without extended supervision, and dismissal of the remaining charges. The legacy 92-month sentence was unsupported and is replaced. The earlier July 2018 discharge remains month precision: the contemporary support account dates the release hearing July 5, while a later court-record report dates the order July 6. Neither is treated as independently proven physical discharge. The existing three-day credited total is now corroborated by the sentencing report and retained, not counted backwards to manufacture an endpoint. The 2025 sentence did not begin a new prison term.
