The case against a man first charged
with embezzling 217 cases of Pepperidge
Farm stuffing from a Midland warehouse
in February 2008 has been dismissed.
Stephen Michael Shoultes, 34,
Bentley, entered a no contest plea to an
amended misdemeanor charge of larceny of
$200 to $1,000 in October 2008. An audio
recording of that hearing reveals the
terms of the plea agreement included
full payment of $2,430 restitution
during a one year sentence delay. Any
violations of the terms would result in
an agreed upon one year in jail for
Shoultes.
Shoultes and his attorney Jason
Gower of Bay City had been scheduled to
appear today in the Midland County
Circuit Court for a hearing ending the
delay of sentence. However, Circuit
Judge Jonathan E. Lauderbach signed an
order dismissing the case on Thursday
afternoon, making it unnecessary for the
hearing to be conducted.
In an e-mail sent Thursday evening,
Gower states prosecutors "saw the
weakness in their case" before trial
thus made the offer of a misdemeanor.
The original charges filed were
embezzlement of $1,000 to $20,000 and
larceny of $1,000 to $20,000, which are
both felonies. A letter in the court
file from Midland County Chief Assistant
Prosecutor Erik S.H. Wallen to Gower
states the larceny of $1,000 to $20,000
charge was added to the case after
officials discovered that Shoultes might
not have been employed by Pepperidge
Farm at the time the stuffing came up
missing.
"This case was nothing more than an
administrative procedure that wasn't
followed by Mr. Shoultes -- he would
have no use, no use, for over 200 boxes
of Pepperidge Farm stuffing," Gower's
media release states. It also states the
plea was an economic decision for
Shoultes. A message seeking further
comment from Gower was not returned by
deadline.
Shoultes was accused of stealing the
stuffing from a storage trailer on
Schuette Drive. According to court
papers, Shoultes at one time worked for
the company through an independent
distributor. A search warrant was
drafted and Midland Police recovered 157
cases of stuffing from Shoultes' pole
barn. The restitution amount covers the
remaining 60 cases that were unaccounted
for.
http://ourmidland.com/articles/2009/12/04/police_and_courts/2268264.txt
