May 25—BELLAIRE — A Central Lake woman is appealing her sentence after a judge last year sent her to prison on two felony animal cruelty convictions.
Brooklynn Beck, 29, previously arraigned on five felony counts of killing or torturing animals, and one felony count of abandoning 25 or more animals, is currently incarcerated in Huron Valley Correctional Facility.
Beck in December pleaded guilty to two felony counts of animal cruelty as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced by 13th Circuit Court Judge Thomas Power to two to four years in prison and a $1,600 fine.
The fine is payable to Antrim County Animal Control, after court testimony showed staff there spent more than $30,000 and hundreds of hours of staff time caring for a variety of exotic animals Beck was convicted of mistreating.
Beck and her fiancé, Michael Turland, came to northern Michigan from Arizona, court records show, rented a house on Muckle Road in Central Lake and opened a pet grooming business, House of Floof, in the village’s downtown.
Turland later faced criminal charges in Arizona, after officials there said they’d pulled nearly 200 animals out of a freezer at a home he and Beck were renting in the remote town of Kingman.
Turland in March was found not guilty in Mohave County Superior Court of two counts of animal cruelty related to the freezer case, court records show.
Officials there said they could not prove the animals were alive when Turland put them in the freezer, despite his previous statements to law enforcement.
Beck and Turland ran House of Floof together, police records show, though Beck also worked at a pet grooming business in Grand Traverse County. Law enforcement was notified when one of the dogs Beck groomed died soon afterward, records show.
Beck faced an animal cruelty charge in 86th District Court for the death, records show, although that case was dismissed after a judge bound the Antrim County charges over to circuit court.
Antrim County Prosecutor James Rossiter previously said, in initial interviews with law enforcement, Beck stated she had animals at her home — information that led to a search warrant where officials said they found dozens of malnourished animals living in filth, including a Clydesdale horse with hooves infested with maggots.
Traverse City attorney Mattias Johnson, who had represented Beck in the criminal case and in a previous civil forfeiture action, said he believed Beck had mental health issues and requested the judge sentence her to probation.
Rossiter, however, requested a prison sentence, Judge Power agreed, and questioned Beck’s apology and stated grief at the loss of her reptiles.
“Miss Beck, are you saddened because they were taken away from you or are you saddened because they starved to death?” Power asked, during a December sentencing hearing.
“Everything, being overwhelmed,” Beck said.
Appellate attorney Robert Sirianni, Jr., who did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, filed an appearance on behalf of Beck.
Beck requested the court grant her bond, as she awaits a decision by the Court of Appeals.
Judge Power retired shortly after Beck’s sentencing, his seat was assumed by Charles Hamlyn who was elected in November, and last month Judge Hamlyn denied Beck’s bond request.
No date has yet been set for an appeals hearing; Beck’s earliest release date, pending appeal, is Dec. 8, 2024.