Judge Robert O. Bowen approved a plea agreement between the prosecutor and the defense attorney for defendant Toni Cassandra Schutz, 27, who pleaded guilty in the agreement to the charges. On the Manufacturing Methamphetamine charge, Schutz was sentenced to 18 years in the Department of Corrections in which three years were suspended. On the robbery charge, Schutz was sentenced to six years. Both sentences will run concurrently. She will have the opportunity to enroll in an intensive anti-meth counseling program and if she successfully completes the program she will be eligible to petition the court for a modification of her sentence.
Schutz was found to have robbed the Bottle Stop Liquor Store in LaPaz on Nov. 2, 2012 at gunpoint and fleeing the establishment with $400 in cash. Two witnesses found a cell phone on the ground and it was identified as belonging to Schutz. She was arrested after officers executed an arrest warrant at a location in South Bend. The gun used in the robbery was found in her purse. She was arrested on the meth charge after she sold heroin and methamphetamine to a confidential informant on Jan. 23, 2012. On July 20, 2013 Schutz’s garage burned and items associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine were identified as the cause of the fire.
