CASSOPOLIS — A drug-addicted Dowagiac woman flirted with prison Friday morning in Cass County Circuit Court for smuggling cocaine into jail last March.

Stephanie Klobucar, 35, of 609 E. Prairie Ronde, pleaded guilty to furnishing contraband to three prisoners and possessing less than 25 grams of cocaine March 5 at the jail.

Those charges followed by two days her arrest for possessing less than 25 grams of cocaine and marijuana as an habitual offender on East Telegraph Street in Dowagiac.

“Her record speaks for itself,” Assistant Prosecutor Kirk Metzger said of eight prior felonies and 10 misdemeanors, plus the “extremely concerning” factor of bringing her addiction into jail and undermining security.

Her attorney, Greg Feldman, said, “She’s ashamed of what she’s done,” and he cannot imagine landing “more rock bottom” than the juncture of accepting treatment or facing a harsh prison sentence.

Klobucar was a passenger in a car stopped for a traffic violation. She hid marijuana in her pants and denied that white film around her mouth was from crack cocaine.

On March 5, the jail staff learned she had palmed some cocaine and transferred it to her sock while being booked, then furnished the drug to three prisoners who tested positive, though she only admitted to two under oath at her plea.

Circuit Judge Michael Dodge denied her for swift and sure sanctions probation, saying Klobucar demonstrated time and again she is not trustworthy.

“I could send you to prison,” Dodge said, “and you’re just about there now,” but he imposed concurrent sentences of a year in the county jail without work release or tether.

 

Cass man caught

carrying $13,524

 

Kataris Brown, 27, of 24010 Hospital St., Cassopolis, pleaded guilty May 22 to delivering and manufacturing marijuana and maintaining a drug house May 4 on First Street in Cassopolis.

A village police officer stopped Brown for not wearing a seatbelt and found 40 grams of the controlled substance. Brown, who had no prior criminal convictions, had $13,524 in cash, suggesting, Metzger said, a “significant side business.”

Dodge agreed with the prosecutor that the circumstances warranted more than three days the defendant spent in jail, so he gave Brown concurrent two-year probation sentences with the first 90 days in jail.

 

Meth maker given

a second chance

 

Joe Littlefield Jr., 31, of 68579 Calvin Center, Cassopolis, pleaded guilty May 22 to four felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison, plus he possessed firearms — a “potent and dangerous mix” with drugs, Metzger said.

Littlefield, who has two children and three step-children, was convicted of operating and maintaining a hazardous waste lab, operating and maintaining a lab in the presence of minors, operating and maintaining a methamphetamine lab, delivering and manufacturing methamphetamine, possessing meth and possessing marijuana May 8 in Calvin Center when the Cass County Drug Enforcement Team executed a search warrant.

With no prior record, he has been accepted into Family Treatment Court and attended eight groups of the meth diversion program while in jail.

His attorney, Lawrence Quigley, said his client knows he needs to seize this opportunity, three years probation starting with 90 days in Twin County Probation Center, Three Rivers. He received credit for 59 days served.

“This is a great opportunity for you,” Dodge said. “For you family’s sake, make sure you take advantage of it.”

In the other case on the July 5 sentencing docket, Dodge gave Timothy Newton, 25, two years probation with 150 days in jail and credit for 119 for failing to register as a sex offender while living on High Street in Dowagiac last October.