Steven J. Gutowski

Steven J. Gutowski, who is incarcerated in the Miami County Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, was denied by Kosciusko Superior Court 1 Judge Duane Huffer to have his sentenced modified.

The Warsaw man was sentenced in July to 12 years in prison with all but four years being served concurrent on three Class C felony forgery charges and three Class D felony counts of theft. The thefts and forgery occurred while Gutowski was an employee of The Papers Inc.

Gutowski, now representing himself in court matters, filed a motion on Feb. 13 to have his sentenced modified. He noted he has served 6 months of the imposed sentence with 1½ years remaining to serve as a result of the court’s order to run sentences consecutively. His projected release date is July 30, 2015.

The plea agreement accepted by the court stated his sentence could not exceed four years total after consecutive sentencing on two of the forgery charges and on the remaining four counts. Because DOC gives inmates one day credit for each day served for good behavior, the four year sentence is reduced to two years.

In his motion, Gutowski noted he has all his good time provisions, his conduct has been outstanding and productive toward rehabilitation and he volunteers by helping other inmates achieve their GED. He is a member of the Straight Talk Team and teaches Bible studies. He is also a clerk for the Prison Enterprises Network Warehouse for Balkamp.

The court ordered a progress report from the Indiana Department of Correction to allow the court to further consider the request, which was received March 18.

On April 1, the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s office filed an objection to any sentence modification for Gutowski. Judge Huffer denied the modification on April 2.