Man faces 43 years in prison

BALLSTONSPA, N.Y. » A Hudson Falls man is now facing nearly 43 years in prison after admitting to trying to have a witness to a previous rape conviction killed.

Kyle M. Shultz, 20, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Saratoga County Court to second-degree conspiracy, a class B felony.

One May 16, 2017, Shultz was charged with first-degree rape and second-degree robbery of a female, which occurred earlier that day in Moreau.

According to court documents, Shutlz, who had already pleaded guilty in the rape case, offered $10,000 to what he thought was a fellow inmate at the Saratoga County Jail to kill the witness in his rape case. The arrangements were made in March.

As it turns out, the fellow inmate was actually an undercover police officer, court documents said, to whom Shultz laid out his plan of how and where the murder was supposed to take place.

“It is ironic that the defendant believed that if the witness to the rape were killed, he would not be sent to prison,” Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen said. “That was not accurate.”

Shultz was originally sentenced to up to 13 years in prison on the rape and assault convictions. The sentences were based on a plea deal, court documents said.

But now with the conspiracy plea, Shutlz now faces up to 20 years in prison on the rape charge, three years on a second-degree assault conviction. He also face 10 to 20 years on the conspiracy plea.

All of those sentences are expected to run consecutively, meaning Shultz could spend up to 43 years in prison. He is expected to be sentenced June 27.