Gary Charles Stutsman appeared for sentencing in District Court before Judge Thomas Stockard on Tuesday, August 29. Stutsman previously pled guilty to two Category D Felonies: Possession of a Controlled Substance, a High Amount, and Possession of Visual Pornography of a Person Under 16 years of age.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Lane Mills told the court the defendant has a criminal history that goes back to 1980. “What is of the greatest concern to the state, Your Honor, is 60 grams of meth,” said Mills, “That is not a personal use level.” He also informed Judge Stockard that Stutsman is eligible for probation on the visual pornography charge, as he completed the necessary state mandated psychosexual evaluation. Failure to do so would have automatically made him ineligible.
Charles Woodman, Esq., defense counsel for Stutsman, addressed the pornography charge, stating that the psychologist concluded that the defendant does not register on the sexual offender meter and does not require any sexual type of counseling. On the drug charge, Woodman said while 60 grams is not an insignificant amount of meth, his client is a long-term user. He told the court that the defendant has had two successful probations where he was honorably discharged, has been a flawless Court Services supervisee for well over a year, and completed about an 8-month program through New Frontier since this arrest. Woodman asked the court to consider granting his client probation based on these factors.
Court Services Director Brenda Ingram reported Stutsman has been supervised for 508 days and has had 101 clean tests. Stutsman took full responsibility for his actions and apologized to everyone involved.
The victim gave an impact statement telling the court that the defendant broke her trust, “He’s not a monster, and I just want him to get some help.”
Judge Stockard sentenced Stutsman to 48-128 months and a fine of $2,000 on the controlled substance charge and to a consecutive 28-72 months on the pornography charge for an aggregate sentence of 76-192 months in prison, however suspended the sentence. Stutsman was placed on probation for 36 months. In addition to the standard conditions of probation, Stutsman was ordered to obtain a substance abuse evaluation to follow the recommendations of both that evaluation and the recommendations in his psychosexual evaluation.
Judge Stockard also ordered Stutsman to register as a sexual offender within 48 hours of this sentencing, despite the evaluator’s recommendation. He is not to have any pornography in his possession and is to familiarize himself with the required rules for sexual offenders. No contact with the victim is permitted unless authorized by the Division of Parole and Probation.
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