Margaret Herber
Tyler Ziilch
KINGMAN – A Monday hearing in Kingman may have persuaded a Bullhead City woman to enter a plea agreement rather than take her drug case to trial. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Rick Lambert told Margaret Herber, 44, that she is facing a 27- to 57-year prison term if she is convicted of all pending charges at trial.
The proposed plea deal, however, mandates an eight-year prison term for Herber. She told her attorney at the end of the hearing that she would like him to schedule a change of plea hearing.
Herber already has a felony drug conviction and the proposed plea would see her convicted of possession of dangerous drugs in a 2020 case. It would dismiss the most serious charges resulting from alleged sale of methamphetamine on two occasions in 2019.
A November 3 trial date set for Herber will be vacated if she decides to enter the plea deal.
Another Bullhead City resident appearing before Judge Lambert Monday was sent to the Arizona Department of Corrections for three years. Tyler Ziilch, 38, admitted violating probation in a 2019 case in which he committed a criminal damage spree during an argument and altercation at a male victim’s home in the 1900 block of Robson Circle.
Ziilch also pleaded guilty to an April, 2020 arson incident at 865 Hancock Road. Police spokeswoman Emily Fromelt said Ziilch started a small brush fire near the Family Dollar store in the 2000 block of Commercial Way.
Fromelt said Ziilch had previously been banned from the store. She said Ziilch told police he started the fire because he was bored.
- -Dave Hawkins
