A Colome woman will receive a new sentence after the state’s high court decided the state breached a plea agreement.
Lisa Slotsky, 38, was sentenced to five years in prison, one suspended, with credit for five days served, on Sept. 15 by Judge Kathleen Trandahl for ingestion of methamphetamine stemming from a March 26, 2015, traffic arrest.
The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled the state failed to abide by the terms of the plea agreement in which the state was supposed to recommend a light sentence, including participating in Hope Court with no jail time.
“At sentencing, instead of recommending Hope Court and no jail time, the state highlighted and detailed Slotsky’s criminal history and suggested that Slotsky would be unable to maintain sobriety or obey the laws and not cause harm in the community,” said the supreme court in its decision. “By impliedly arguing for a harsher sentence, the state in effect asked the circuit court to disregard the state’s recommendation under the plea agreement.”
The state contended it fulfilled the bargain by not objecting to a Hope Court sentence. The action was a “transparent effort to influence the severity of the defendant’s sentence” without fulfilling its end of the bargain,” the court said.
“The state’s failure to recommend Hope Court and no jail time is a material and substantial breach of the plea agreement,” the decision said.
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