WILLMAR -- Trisha Mae Schrupp, 28, of rural Spicer, on Tuesday received a stayed sentence of 81 months in prison for aiding in methamphetamine sales. As a condition of the stay, she was ordered by Judge Michael J. Thompson to enter and successfully complete a long-term chemical dependency treatment program.
As part of the sentence handed down in Kandiyohi County District Court, Schrupp was placed on probation for 15 years, fined $1,000 and ordered to serve 60 days in the county jail.
Thompson ordered that she be released directly from jail to enter treatment. Schrupp's public defender, Greta Smolnisky, argued that her client has had a consistent desire to attend treatment and had been accepted into Minnesota Teen Challenge in Minneapolis.
"We feel that she is committed to changing her life," Smolnisky said. As part of a plea agreement, four felonies and one gross misdemeanor for drug sales, conspiracy and introducing drugs into the county jail were dismissed. Also included in the agreement was the option for Schrupp to seek treatment instead of prison time.
Thompson ordered that if Schrupp cannot go to Teen Challenge, that she attend a women's treatment program or any other approved by county probation.
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After handing down the sentence, Thompson told Schrupp that she needed, and could, make changes in her life. "It's been a long road for you, Ms. Schrupp," he said. "Quite frankly, if you are going to live into your 60s or 70s, you will need to change. You've had a lot of hard times in your past ... you can overcome them."
Thompson paused and then continued, "But if you mess up, prison is the next step."
Three of the charges against Schrupp were filed after CEE-VI Drug Task Force agents and other law enforcement served a search warrant Oct. 24 at the rural Spicer home Schrupp shared with Fernando Rico-Guevarra, 33, also known as Omar Ernesto Soria. He was sentenced April 1 to 74 months in prison and $1,600 in fines on a first-degree controlled substance sale charge.
The agents located two plastic cups that were marked "½" and "1" under a bed. Collectively, the cups contained 47 grams of methamphetamine.
The officers also found drug paraphernalia, cell phones, drug cutting agents, digital scales, marijuana, a computer, camera and Global Positioning System unit in the room. The home also had an exterior surveillance system, with a monitor in the bedroom.
Schrupp was also charged Oct. 30 with first-degree drug sale felony and two charges for bringing contraband into a prison or hospital, after medical personnel at Rice Memorial Hospital removed a portion of a grocery shopping bag from the lower portion of her vagina. The contents of the bag tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 10.4 grams.
The final charge, a first-degree drug sale charge for selling 10 grams or more of cocaine, heroin or meth in a 90-day period, was filed Jan. 31. The charge was for selling an ounce of meth to a drug task force informant just hours before agents served the warrant and searched the couple's Spicer home in October.
