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Plea Change in District Court

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A change of plea hearing was held Thursday in Fourth Judicial District Court for a Sheridan woman charged with two counts of felony drug possession. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

Plea Change in District Court

On March 11, 26-year-old Savannah Schaffer pleaded “Not Guilty by Reason of Mental Impairment or Deficiency” to the charges of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance- Methamphetamine, Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance- Marijuana, and Driving Under Suspension. The possession charges are being prosecuted as felonies because Schaffer has three previous drug possession convictions. A mental health evaluation performed by the Wyoming State Hospital determined Schaffer was competent to proceed, and the findings from the report were adopted by District Court Judge John Fenn at a hearing Thursday.

Pursuant to terms of a plea agreement reached with the State, Schaffer pleaded “guilty” to the possession of marijuana charge and “no contest” to the possession of methamphetamine charge.  The plea deal recommends a sentence of 2 to 4 years for each count, and to run the sentences concurrently. The prison sentence would be suspended in lieu of three years of supervised probation. Judge Fenn ordered that a presentence investigation be completed and said the sentencing date would be set in the near future.

Schaffer was charged with the crimes for an incident on November 18 of last year when she arrived late to the Sheridan Police Department for her scheduled breath test as part of the 24/7 Sobriety Program. According to court documents, Schaffer had left her vehicle running in the parking lot of the Police Department when she went inside for the scheduled breath test, and when an officer with the PD entered the vehicle to retrieve the keys after Schaffer had been arrested for showing up late for the test, the officer noticed a strong smell of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle yielded methamphetamine, marijuana and various drug paraphernalia. 

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