Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
TRACY GEHRKE and her attorney, Matthew Tingstad, appear before Judge Michael Pope in Gogebic County Circuit Court for sentencing. Gehrke was sentenced to two years in prison on the charge of delivering heroin.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Bessemer - A Hurley woman who had fled the state prior to her initial sentencing hearing was sentenced in Gogebic County Circuit Court Wednesday.
Tracy Lynn Gehrke, 44, was sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison on a count of delivering less than 50 grams of heroin. The charges carries a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
She pleaded guilty to the charge on July 1 as part of a plea agreement that stipulated she would be sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Gehrke had originally been scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 12, but failed to appear at the hearing.
Gehrke told Circuit Judge Michael Pope that she was extradited back to Michigan after being arrested when police officers showed up to a friend's house she was at.
Because she failed to appear at her hearing, Pope was no longer required to follow the 14-month sentence stipulation.
Pope reviewed her criminal background, noting what started with alcohol advanced first to using drugs and now delivering them.
"These events indicate Ms. Gehrke is escalating the seriousness of her drug crimes," Pope said.
He also said she was on probation in Iron County, Wis., when she was arrested in September 2015 on the charges she was being sentenced on and that she is facing additional charges in Iron County on a separate drug case.
Gehrke's decision to flee rather than face sentencing indicated a lack of remorse, Pope said - which along with the increasing seriousness of the charges merited a harsher sentence than the original plea deal or the zero to 17 months recommended by the sentencing guideline.
Gehrke's plea agreement also called for a second count of delivering heroin to be dismissed, which Pope agreed to do, as objections weren't brought up during Wednesday's sentencing hearing.
Gehrke received credit for 38 days served.
Regarding Gehrke's ongoing case in Iron County - where she is facing a charge of manufacturing or delivering a schedule 1 or 2 narcotic - special District Attorney Fritz Schellgell told the Daily Globe he wanted to review what happened in Gogebic Circuit Court and consult with law enforcement before deciding how to proceed with the case.
