A Galesburg woman was sentenced to 16 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for dealing methamphetamine.
According to a release from Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin, 41-year-old Amy L. Gerstenberger was convicted of possession of meth with intent to deliver on two separate occasions.
She received a four-year sentence in the first case and a 12-year sentence in the second crime, which she committed while out on bail for the first. The sentences will be served consecutively.
Karlin says that during the contested sentencing hearing, he presented evidence from a police interview of the defendant conducted at the time of the second arrest. According to Deputy Sheriff Greg Jennings, Gerstenberger claimed to have moved nearly 60 kilos of methamphetamine in the year preceding her second arrest.
The market value for the drugs was shown to be worth up to $3,000,000. Based on this, State’s Attorney Karlin asked the court to sentence Gerstenberger to 24 years. Accounting for the State’s evidence, her lack of previous convictions, and her potential for rehabilitation, Judge Andrew Doyle imposed the 16-year sentence. Gerstenberger will serve 50% of the sentence imposed.
Karlin included his observation of the issues with the Pre-Trial Fairness Act, “This case is an illustration of the challenge the Pre-Trial Fairness Act poses to prosecutors and law enforcement. The fear is that after being arrested for one set of drug charges, dealers will be immediately released to continue distributing their poison into our community. While such concerns were present under the old system of cash bail, any system of pretrial release that reduces a judge’s discretion to detain people can increase the potential for such recidivism even while under the court’s supervision.”
