Holt County judge sends two women to prison

The Honorable Mark Kozisec, when he presided from the bench in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill on Dec. 4, sentenced two O’Neill women to prison.

Bobbie I. Kleinberg, 44, was sentenced on her conviction related to a brutal attack on a “confidential informant.”

She was ordered to serve eight to 12 years, in a facility under the jurisdiction of the Nebraska Department of Corrections, on Count I, assault in the second degree, a Class 2A felony; two to three years on count II, terroristic threats, a Class 3A felony; two to three years on Count III, false imprisonment in the first degree, a Class 3A felony; and one to two years on Count IV, tampering with a witness or informant, a Class 4 felony. The terms are ordered to be served concurrent to one another. She was given credit for 133 days previously spent in the Holt County Jail.

Provided none of her good time is lost, Kleinberg must serve four years, less the 133 days, before becoming eligible for parole and she must serve six years, less 133 days, before mandatory release.

Kleinberg pleaded no contest to the four crimes included in an amended information Oct. 2, per terms of a plea agreement with prosecutor Brent Kelly. Kelly reduced Count I from first-degree assault, a Class 2 felony, and dismissed Count V, sexual assault in the first degree, a Class 2 felony.

She was represented by court-appointed counsel, Ashley Boettcher of O’Neill.

Kleinberg was arrested July 4 by O’Neill and Holt County officers, who were called to the site of a possible overdose. Instead, officers found the victim with a bloody face and injuries sustained from Kleinberg.

According to an arrest affidavit filed by an O’Neill officer, the victim reported that Kleinberg asked if he was working for the “cops” as a confidential informant. The victim admitted he was working with the sheriff’s department, which upset Kleinberg.

She punched him in the face, began hitting the floor next to him with a hammer, hit the back of his head with the hammer, hog tied him and took his clothing off to check for a “wire,” and kicked his legs and back while he was tied.

Then she “grabbed a syringe and inserted it into (the victim’s) rectum, telling him she was going to inject (the victim) with rat poison because ‘that is how you take care of a rat.’”

He said he did not fight back for fear a man who was watching would join in the attack.

The victim told officers he had not overdosed, that the only drugs in his system were what the defendant injected into him.

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Tiah B. Sweet, 60, was sentenced to serve 36 to 72 months in a facility under the department of corrections for Count I, a Class 2 felony, delivery of a controlled substance, morphine, and two to four months for Count V, a Class 2 misdemeanor, theft by unlawful taking. She was given credit for 41 days previously served in the county jail. The crimes date back more than two years.

Provided she loses none of the good time for which she is eligible, Sweet must serve 18 months, less 41 days, before she is eligible for parole and 36 months, less 41 days, before her mandatory release.

Sweet was found guilty of the two counts by a 12-member jury, who deliberated for just over two hours Oct. 4.

Count II, possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony, was dismissed Oct. 3, after a motion in limine was sustained, outside of the presence of the jury, prior to commencement of the trial. Two infraction counts, Count III, possession of drug paraphernalia and Count IV, possession of marijuana, were dismissed by Kelly, outside the presence of the jury, during the trial.

Sweet was represented by Holt County public defender Rod Smith.

Sweet was arrested Nov. 9, 2021, following an investigation by Holt County investigator Steven Binkerd, into reports from relatives of an O’Neill man who was undergoing treatment for addiction to opioids.

Sweet was working as a licensed practical nurse at Arbor Care and Rehab in O’Neill, where she took morphine and other drugs that she sold to the man, according to an affidavit filed by Binkerd.

According to the affidavit, some residents may have been deprived of their pain medications due to Sweet’s actions.