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A Muncie man with a lengthy criminal history was sentenced to 44 years in prison after being convicted of dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman announced Aug. 16.
Judge John M. Feick of the Delaware Circuit Court No. 2 sentenced Michael Schoeff, 44, after a Delaware County jury convicted Schoeff of the felony in April.
Because Schoeff had been previously convicted of two prior unrelated felonies, the jury found Schoeff to be a habitual offender.
Feick gave Schoeff a sentence of 32 years for the Level 1 felony conviction and added an additional 12 years for the habitual offender sentence enhancement.
According to a probable cause affidavit, in October 2020, a Muncie police officer was assigned an investigation as a result of a woman’s drug overdose death.
The woman’s boyfriend told police that they had bought drugs from Schoeff and Vera Morgan.
Schoeff denied selling heroin to the woman the night she overdosed, but he admitted selling $40 worth of heroin to the woman and her boyfriend during her birthday week and that he and the couple used the drug at a house.
Schoeff told police that the woman began to overdose that night, but her boyfriend helped her stay awake and come out of it.
According to Schoeff’s sentencing order, Schoeff has been charged with at least 22 misdemeanors and 16 felonies, resulting in 10 misdemeanor and five felony convictions.
The order noted Schoeff had a lengthy history of substance use and has never voluntarily sought or successfully completed treatment for his addictions prior to incarceration.
In a jury trial that concluded Aug. 25, 2022, Schoeff was found guilty of conspiracy to commit dealing in a narcotic drug, a Level 5 felony and the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on a Level 1 felony count of aiding, inducing, or dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death,
That Level 1 felony count was set for a retrial.
In March 2023 Schoeff was sentenced to five years on the Level 5 felony conspiracy charge with credit for time served of 877 actual days.
According to the sentencing order, the court, due to double jeopardy concerns that cannot be remedied by the practical effect of concurrent sentences or by the merger of the counts, vacated the conviction previously entered as to the Level 5 felony conspiracy charge.
Any credit time Schoeff has accrued shall be applied to the sentence imposed for his conviction for dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, according to the order.
After the Aug. 16 sentencing hearing, Hoffman said in a news release that, “We will continue to hold drug dealers and habitual violators of the law who prey on the vulnerable in society accountable. Since the passage of the Dealing Resulting in Death statute, six defendants have been convicted in Delaware County.”
The case is State of Indiana v. Michael T. Schoeff, 18C04-2011-F1-14.
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