Charges dropped in plea deal for Thompsonville man

Elizabeth Brewer, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·2 min read

Apr. 3—TRAVERSE CITY — A Thompsonville man had all of his original charges dropped as part of a plea deal, court records showed.

Steven Loope, 37, faced six felonies after allegedly slashing a woman's arm and trying to sneak cocaine in the jail on his person.

On March 28, Loope accepted a plea bargain offered to him by the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor's Office. In exchange for pleading no-contest to one added count of second-degree home invasion, all of Loope's previous charges were dropped.

Dropped charges included first-degree home invasion, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of contraband in a jail and possession of less than 25 grams of a controlled substance.

Charges stemmed from a Dec. 9 incident when police say Loope went to his ex-girlfriend's Garfield Township residence uninvited, entered the home and threatened a friend of hers with a knife.

The ex-girlfriend was treated and released at Munson Medical Center for slashes on her upper left arm, according to Grand Traverse County Sheriff's deputies.

Loope was arrested by Michigan State Police troopers in Benzie County at a bar, and transported to the Grand Traverse County Jail, where he allegedly tried to bring a bag of cocaine into the facility, according to the sheriff's report.

The maximum sentence for second-degree home invasion is up to 15 years in prison and fines of $3,000, according to state sentencing guidelines.

His sentencing is scheduled for May 17 at 9:45 a.m. at the 13th Circuit Court in Traverse City.

His bond was set at 10 percent of $50,000 during his arraignment. He immediately posted it, and is out of custody.

Loope previously served two prison sentences in Michigan for cases out of Benzie County, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records.

The first was a plea deal for malicious destruction of property $1,000 to $2,000 in 2013, and the second was a no-contest plea for delivery/manufacturing of a controlled substance less than 50 grams in 2017, court records showed.

Loope's attorney Stephen Kane did not respond to the Record-Eagle's request for comment.