CALHOUN COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A Battle Creek area woman will not be spending any time behind bars after she was sentenced for concealing the death of her mother and stealing from a local church.
Marcia Lutz was ordered during a sentencing hearing on Friday to pay over $34,000 in restitution and almost $3,000 in fines and court costs after she entered guilty pleas in January to charges of concealing the death of her mother and embezzlement.
Lutz was sentenced to three years of probation. The two sentences will be served by her concurrently.
Her mother 74-year-old Phyllis Lutz was found buried at the woman’s property following her death from what investigators believe were natural causes.
In January of 2019, State troopers were tipped off to the residence on the 10000 block of 4 Mile Road in Leroy Township, south of Battle Creek. Phyllis Lutz’s friends at First Christian Church in Emmett Township alerted authorities beforehand that they had not seen the woman since sometime around September.
Police discovered the elder Lutz buried at a grave near the home. Marcia Lutz was arraigned on June 3rd, 2019 for concealing her mothers death and failing to report the discovery of a dead body.
Marcia Lutz was also involved with embezzling between $20,000 and $40,000 from the same church that her mother attended, with thousands in theft dating back to 2015.
The defendant took a plea deal while going through court proceedings, having a misdemeanor count of failing to report a dead body dismissed by prosecutors.
