A Lakeside man was sentenced Nov. 23 to five years and four months in state prison after he pleaded guilty to robbery and attempting to make a criminal threat to a former friend.
Kenny John Schutt, 36, asked for immediate sentencing from San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert O’Neill after his guilty pleas.
Also pleading guilty to robbery of the same victim was Derrick Spurgeon, 41, of El Cajon. Spurgeon also admitted he caused great bodily injury upon the victim, whose name is not being released because of threats to his safety.
Charges of torture, kidnapping, extortion, burglary, auto theft, and assault with a deadly weapon were dismissed against Schutt and Spurgeon by O’Neill in light of their guilty pleas to robbery.
Spurgeon faces a stipulated 9-year prison term when he is sentenced on Jan. 21. He remains in jail.
Spurgeon faces a possible re-trial on an unrelated case of accessory after the fact to a homicide in which he allegedly piloted a boat to help his friend dispose of a body in a 55-gallon drum in San Diego Bay in 2018.
A jury deadlocked a year ago for Spurgeon, but they convicted Timothy John Cook, 53, of murdering his roommate, Omar Medina, 28, a music producer.
The victim in the case against Schutt and Spurgeon testified in a preliminary hearing about incidents in 2017 in which he was tortured and beaten in a residence where he used to live near Lemon Grove. The victim said he was threatened with an exposed electrical wire.
All his tools, television, clothing, and possessions were stolen from his residence during his one-week stay in a hospital from his injuries, the victim said.
Court records say a motorcycle was stolen from the victim’s residence and Schutt and Spurgeon were trying to extort him out of $2,500 for the motorcycle.
O’Neill gave Schutt credit for already serving 1,109 days in jail which will be subtracted from the five year, four month sentence. Schutt was fined $294.
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A former social media comedian has been sentenced to 12 years and three months in federal prison for supplying a drug with fentanyl which killed a Ramona woman.
The 148-month term was handed down to Michael Steen, 27, by U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel for the death of a 33-year-old woman identified only in court records as M.P.
Steen will be eligible for release in 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Steen received credit for serving a year in jail after the 2018 death of the woman.
Steen was known as Yung Poppy and Kiesha Red on social media with four million followers, according to his attorney.
The woman died on July 9, 2018, the same day she bought drugs from Steen that contained fentanyl, according to court records.
“If you are selling fentanyl, beware: as (this) sentence reflects, you will be held fully accountable for the death and destruction you selfishly cause,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer, Jr., in a statement.
“My office is collaborating with partners at every level to seize fentanyl at the border, build cases against cartels and street distributors, and pursue death charges against dealers of this deadly poison,” said Brewer.
“One of the DEA’s goals is to put people responsible for drug deaths in federal prison,” said DEA Special Agent John W. Callery.
“In this case, the victim is a young woman from Ramona who was just starting off in life,” said Sheriff’s Captain Justin White. “There are many stories of lives stolen.”
Steen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, a charge that carries a mandatory minimum 10 year sentence which is what his attorney recommended. The prosecutor asked for 168 months.
Steen’s girlfriend, Racquel Ramcharan, 23, pleaded guilty to possession of a drug with fentanyl. Ramcharan received credit for time served on probation.
