Michigan Rep. Jewell Jones pleads guilty after initially rejecting plea deal
INKSTER, Mich. (FOX 2) - Michigan Rep. Jewell Jones has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a drunken driving arrest last year, including the charge regarding bringing a handcuff key into the Washtenaw County Jail.
Jones (D-Inkster) pleaded guilty to resisting and obstructing police, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, possessing a weapon while intoxicated, reckless driving, and escape of lawful custody.
In exchange, resisting arrest and DUI charges were dropped.
Additionally, the deal allows the Inkster rep to reduce his felony charges to dismissals if he completes a youth sentencing program.
He's due to be sentenced on March 17 and will likely receive probation. It's not expected that he will have to resign from office
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Jones initially rejected the plea deal in December, and the case was set to go to trial later this month.
"I resisted arrest on April 6, 2021, I drove a vehicle and possessed a firearm when my blood alcohol content was more than 0.08. I drove a vehicle recklessly on I-96 on April 6, 2021," Jones admitted.
After rejecting the deal, Jones said he didn't reject it, even when a judge didn't dismiss charges against him.
"Not at all - a lot of times you get overcharged, and somebody offers you a deal and they try to make it appear as being great," he said. "I am not sure what the reasoning for that was for. I am still optimistic, moving forward, we have to let God do that, it is right in his sight."
After news that he was taking the plea deal surfaced, the lawmaker posted two apology letters to his Instagram that he said he sent to the Michigan State Troopers who responded that day.
"I think that for a long time I was so focused on proving my innocence or trying to fight the system, but at some point in time you just need to craft some winning strategies with different people and figure out we can all come together. I mean this is the system we all agree to live under - you know?" Jones said. "I do have to make peace with some of the mistakes i did make so that's what today is. It's a start."
One of the letters reads in part: "We ‘Black’ men have a hard enough time in our struggle for justice, and already have enough enemies as it is, to make the drastic mistake of attack each other and adding more weight to an unbearable load."
He went on to say, "Though I believe things were mishandled that day on I-96, I played a role in the fiasco."
Jones will likely get two years probation and says he plans to return to Lansing as a lawmaker.
"Life happens sometimes so Idon't foresee any issues - just gotta make sure we stay on the straight and narrow," he said.
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