PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Princeville woman faces up to 18 months in prison after she pleaded guilty Wednesday to animal cruelty charges.
Stacy Mueller, 42, entered into a partial deal with Peoria County prosecutors that capped her prison term at half what it would have been without the deal. Normally, the felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals carries a three-year maximum stint behind bars.
Probation is also an option for her as well.
Mueller will remain free on bond pending her Jan. 24, 2024, sentencing by Peoria County Circuit Judge Paul Gilfillan.
Deputies with the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office arrested her in May. When she was indicted in June by a Peoria County grand jury, she was also charged with misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty related to the treatment or starvation of the dogs, identified in court records as Cookies, Cappuccino, and Ziggy.
An animal control officer with Peoria County Animal Protection Services had asked for assistance from a sheriff’s deputy regarding the home in Princeville.
Once there, the deputy and the caseworker observed deplorable conditions at the home that included a boarded-up shed where the dogs were being held, piles of feces two to three inches deep and several dogs covered with feces and flies, according to court records. One dog was dead.
The temperature inside the shed was at least 94 degrees, though the PCAPS animal control officer believed the temperature to be much higher with the windows and doors closed.