Plea deal withdrawn in Lang case

A plea agreement between a former Sturgis teacher and the St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office was withdrawn Tuesday in St. Joseph County District Court.
Keith Andrew Lang was set to enter a no contest/guilty plea to one count of attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. However, District Court Judge Jeff Middleton said he couldn’t agree to portions of the deal.
As part of the plea deal, no jail time was recommended and after five years, Lang would have been able to withdraw his plea and enter a plea to a charge of assault and battery, a move that would have allowed him to be removed from the state’s sex-offender registry.
Middleton said the state would not allow a plea to be changed and said he was not able to agree to no jail time.
The case will now move to a pretrial conference.
Lang remains free on $150,000 bond.