3/10/2026

BESSEMER - A High Bridge, WI man was found guilty of several drug offenses by a 12-person jury in Gogebic County Thursday according to Nicholas Jacobs, Gogebic County Prosecuting Attorney following a two-day trial.  56-year-old Erick Schutte, from High Bridge, WI was convicted on all charges stemming from an arrest made by GIANT officers in the City of Wakefield on July 24, 2025.  A search of the vehicle Schutte was driving turned up several zipper-style baggies containing 30 grams of meth, drug paraphernalia and a glass smoking device. The jury found Schutte guilty of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine within 1000’ of a public park.  Both the conspiracy and delivery charges carry a maximum prison term of twenty years.  Possession near a park is punishable by two years in prison.  Following the verdict Schutte’s bond was revoked, and he remains lodged in the Gogebic County jail in Bessemer pending a presentence investigation and the scheduling of a date for sentencing within the next 30 days.  The owner and passenger of that vehicle Dalani Leyva was convicted for her role in the case and sentenced last December she received a prison term of ten years minimum to a maximum of thirty years.