COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A suspect charged in connection with the August 2016 death of a Bronson man at the Cary Lake Public Access site has entered into a plea agreement with Branch County Prosecutors Office.
33-year-old Ricky Ledale Johnson of Jonesville entered a no contest plea Monday in Branch County Circuit Court to a charge of Allowing an Intoxicated Person to Operate a Motor Vehicle Causing Death.
In exchange for the plea, the original charge of Failure to Stop at the Scene of an Accident-When at Fault-Resulting in Death as well as a sentencing enhancement for being an Habitual Offender-third offense were dismissed by prosecutors.
Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced March 12, 2018.
According to Branch County court documents, Johnson was the driver of a convertible that drove off a dock and into the water during the wee hours of August 29, 2016. Johnson denied he was the driver of the vehicle.
43-year-old Jonathan Arnold McGuire lost his life in the incident. His body was found by divers in the upside down convertible several hours after it went into the water.
Dr. Stephen Cohle, who performed the autopsy at Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids, said during a preliminary exam in Branch County District Court that McGuire was alive when the car entered the water and was not on the verge of a drug overdose.
