COURT NEWS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

A number of area residents were sentenced this week and last week in Berrien County Trial Court and Cass County Circuit Court.

A Niles man was sentenced to prison for robbing a person making a food delivery. Clarence David Hurmon, 28, of North Sixth Street in Niles, pleaded

guilty to larceny from a person and was sentenced to 23 months to 120 months in prison. He must pay $258 in fines and costs. He has credit for 146 days already served.

The incident occurred Jan. 16 in the 700 block of Broadway in Niles. Wenhui Zheng was robbed of money, his cell phone and his keys. Hurmon was initially charged with armed robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Defense attorney Scott Sanford asked for probation in mental health court. For his part, Hurmon apologized for his actions. “I want to show that I can be a productive member of society,” he said.

“You have a long criminal record of more than a decade over multiple states,” Berrien County Trial Judge Charles LaSata said. “You deserve prison.”

 

Joshua George Gillette, 39, of Chicago Road in Niles, pleaded guilty to second offense use of methamphetamine and was sentenced to two years probation, credit for 49 days served and $1,138 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred April 23 in Niles. His past drug convictions including ones in 1999 and 2016.

Judge LaSata warned him that he could end up in prison if he violates his probation. “We’ve tried everything including Swift & Sure and adult treatment court, you have to redouble your efforts to get clean,” he said.

An Eau Claire woman accused of embezzling from a Berrien Springs church was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court.

Sarah Kurtz, 51, of West Eureka Road in Eau Claire, pleaded guilty in late April

to a reduced charge of embezzlement between $50,000 and $100,000 rather than the original charge of embezzlement over $100,000. That charge carried a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison rather than 20 years.

Monday, Berrien County Trial Judge Sterling Schrock sentenced Kurtz to five years probation, 120 days in jail, 200 hours of community service, and $272,787.38 in restitution.

Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Rory McBryde said he argued for Schrock to sentence Kurtz to a term of jail and probation. He did not recommend a prison term which would be incarceration of 12 months or more.

For her part, Kurtz apologized to the church, the school and her family during Monday’s sentencing. Her husband, Martin, is a Berrien County Sheriff’s Department deputy.

The embezzlement took place over an eight year period from 2011 to 2018 when Kurtz was the secretary/treasurer at the Village Seventh-day Adventist School in Berrien Springs. Monday, church representative Lance Mack reported in court that he had calculated the amount embezzled and that the number reported was accurate.

According to the police report, the alleged embezzlement was discovered last summer when a teacher’s salary check bounced and an audit was conducted. The police report indicated that Kurtz allegedly sent an email to the school in July 2018 confessing to taking $127,000.

The audit showed that money was embezzled from the school in a number of ways including automatic bill payments, the use of the school’s debit card for personal purchases, fund transfers to a personal account and by cash payments.

In other sentencings, an Edwardsburg man found with guns and drugs was sentenced to a year in jail.

Gary Lee Reynolds, 46, of May Street in Edwardsburg, pleaded guilty to possession of meth, possession of a dangerous weapon and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon and was sentenced to four concurrent terms of 365 days in jail. He has credit for 55 days served and must pay $1,872 in fines, costs and restitution.

The incident occurred Sept. 15 at a residence on Filmore Avenue in Ontwa Township. Cass Circuit Judge Mark Herman reported that police were at the home to serve a warrant on someone else. Reynolds was arrested when he was found to be in possession of meth and weapons including guns and brass knuckles.