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By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
LUDINGTON — A 30-year-old Ludington man with a lengthy criminal record was sentenced in Mason County’s 51st Circuit Court Tuesday, May 21, to 65 months (almost 5 ½ years) to 20 years in prison for a conviction of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder for stabbing a man.
Kevin James Kaiser also received a concurrent term of 80 months (6 ⅔ years) to 10 years in prison for a probation violation conviction. Kaiser’s probation violation stems from a 2020 case in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated stalking and two counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing police and received a sentence of one year in jail and five years probation. The co-defendant in that case was his father, Jeffrey Kaiser. A charge of accessory after the fact to a felony was dismissed against the 61-year-old Kaiser.
Kevin Kaiser has five prior felonies and six previous misdemeanor convictions, along with a juvenile record, said Judge Susan K. Sniegowski.
Charges of first-degree child abuse and maintaining a drug house against Kaiser were dismissed in a separate case. His girlfriend and the mother of the injured toddler, 36-year-old Tara Treesh, faces charges of second-degree child abuse and maintaining a drug house. A trial conference in her case is set for July 9.
Kaiser received credit for 680 days served in jail for the stabbing case and credit for 1,063 days in the probation violation case.
Kaiser apologized in court Tuesday for stabbing the man. “It was fast-moving and chaotic,” he said of the incident. He said the stabbing victim “barged in and was drunk” and threw a beer bottle. He said the man was aggressive to his pregnant sister. “I reacted by stabbing.”
Kaiser’s attorney, Tracie Dinehart, moved for the court to strike any references to the dismissed child abuse case in Kaiser’s pre-sentence investigation report. The judge denied the motion.
“I deny the motion to remove the information and am leaving it in there,” said the judge. “The court considers it as conditions of his living situation while he was on probation.”
“We believe this information is highly relevant,” said Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Kreinbrink. “This is purely a description of the violations.”
Kaiser was sentenced to five to 22 ½ years in prison for a conviction of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2011. He was also sentenced to two to four years in prison for a conviction of delivery/manufacture of marijuana in 2011, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records.
“Your behavior could have ended with a much different result of the victim dying,” Judge Sniegowski said to Kaiser regarding the stabbing. “The court has no choice but to send you to prison,” adding that it is the maximum term that she is allowed to sentence.
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