IRON MOUNTAIN – The defendants accused of operating a methamphetamine lab on the north side of Iron Mountain were in Dickinson County District Court on Wednesday to waive their preliminary examinations.

Both 41-year-old Dennis Schuirmann of Kingsford and 32-year-old Anita Lindlbauer of Iron Mountain agreed to be bound over to the circuit court level.

Schuirmann will next appear in court on Oct. 20 for an arraignment in front of Judge Mary B. Barglind. Lindlbauer is scheduled for an arraignment, as well as a pre-trial conference on a probation violation, on Oct. 31 in front of Judge Barglind.

Each defendant faces one felony count of delivery or manufacture of methamphetamine, one felony count of operating a methamphetamine lab, and one felony count of possession of methamphetamine.

If convicted on all counts, Schuirmann could spend up 50 years in prison. Due to her habitual offender-second status, Lindlbauer could spend up to 75 years in prison.

The charges stem from an Oct. 2 incident in Iron Mountain.

According to the Dickinson County Prosecutor’s Office, Iron Mountain Police Department officers had received a tip that the occupants of an apartment located at 501 Pewabic Street were manufacturing methamphetamine.

Officers responded to the apartment building and were granted permission to enter. Upon entry, they immediately detected a chemical odor and observed equipment used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Several other tenants of the apartment building were then evacuated without incident.

After securing a search warrant for the apartment, officers and the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET) discovered and seized various ingredients used to manufacture methamphetamine and suspected finished methamphetamine.

The criminal complaint stated that Lindlbauer lived in the apartment and allegedly admitted that she knowingly supplied materials for the manufacture of methamphetamine. Schuirmann allegedly admitted that he had been manufacturing methamphetamine in the apartment, and that the finished methamphetamine, chemicals, substances, and equipment belonged to him.

Nikki Younk’s e-mail address is nyounk@ironmountaindailynews.com.