Judge Cortland Corsones presides in Rutland County Superior criminal court in Rutland in Jan. 2026. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger RUTLAND – A judge has approved a plea deal and sentenced a Rutland County woman to at least 10 years in prison for fatally shooting a man inside an apartment four years ago stemming from a drug-related dispute. Judge Cortland Corsones handed down the sentence to 39-year-old Courtney Samplatsky during a hearing Friday in Rutland Superior criminal court.  Samplatsky, formerly of Fair Haven, had initially been charged in 2022 with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Sincere Johnson, 46, of New York City, inside a Baxter Street apartment in Rutland. In addition, Samplatsky was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly pointing a firearm at another man in the aftermath of the shooting. As part of a deal, Samplatsky pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter as well as the aggravated assault charge.  Under the agreement, Samplatsky received a sentence of 14 years and 11 months to 20 years in prison, all suspended on probation except for 10 years to serve.  “This is a situation of either a drug deal having gone bad or a drug robbery having gone bad,” Corsones said, adding that the result was Samplatsky shooting and killing Johnson. “It was a horrific crime, we can’t lose sight of that.”  The judge said in accepting the plea deal he was taking into consideration several factors, including that Samplatsky had no prior criminal history and suffered from substance use disorder and mental health challenges.  Corsones called the agreement “fair and appropriate.”  Jamal Johnson, Sincere Johnson’s brother, had earlier spoken during the hearing by video. “This lady has taken away a part of us, a part of our family. She’s ended a life,” Jamal Johnson said. “Not only did she end a life, the life she ended affected so many other people – daughters, sons, mothers, brothers, cousins.”  Jamal Johnson called the sentence too lenient.  “Hopefully,” he added, “God gives me the grace to understand this because right now I don’t have it.” READ MORE Samplatsky also spoke. She told the judge she didn’t have the words to express the remorse she felt.  “My thoughts were distorted and my actions were wrong,” Samplatsky added. “I’m very sorry for the pain that I caused.” Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan, the prosecutor, said in court Friday that in reaching the plea deal he weighed the risk of taking the case to trial with the certainty of the sentence under the deal. Attorney Marshall Pahl, representing Samplatsky, told the judge that his client had worked a great deal while incarcerated awaiting resolution of the case to address her substance use disorder and mental health challenges. Also, Pahl said, Samplatsky has served as a mentor to other incarcerated people dealing with similar issues.  According to charging documents, police were called to an apartment building on Baxter Street on June 11, 2022, for a report that a man had been shot and killed. Police later found Johnson dead inside an apartment, the documents stated.  During the police investigation, according to the documents, witnesses reported that Samplatsky and a man had plans to “rob a drug dealer” and that Samplatsky “shot the drug dealer in the face” during a dispute. Samplatsky was arrested in New Hampshire shortly after the shooting along with her husband at the time, Michael O’Brien. Samplatsky had denied killing Johnson in speaking with police, charging documents stated. Samplatsky made racist comments about Johnson, the documents stated, and a hate crime enhancement had been filed in the case but was not included as part of the plea deal. O’Brien had been charged with aiding in the commission of second-degree murder. However, after litigation and a ruling that called into question the strength of the evidence against him, Sullivan dismissed the charge. Samplatsky, currently held at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, has been in custody since her arrest in 2022.  Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘My thoughts were distorted’: Woman gets at least 10 years in Rutland fatal shooting. ...read more read less