COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A Detroit man avoided jail time Monday in Branch County Circuit Court after he entered guilty pleas to a pair of fraud counts as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
In exchange for the pleas entered by 26-year-old Aaron Mells, eight other counts of fraud as well as a habitual offender enhancement were dismissed by prosecutors.
Mells was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by the Michigan State Police on I-69 in Branch County in May 2014. Troopers found a number of fraudulent gift cards inside, but Mells was not arrested until November 2016 on the local charges because federal authorities were pursuing the case since it involved the crossing of state lines.
Mells said he knew he made a big mistake but he pointed out to Judge Bill O’Grady he has stayed out of trouble since that time.
Mells was given credit for 27 days already served in the Branch County Jail and all of the time left in his nine month sentence was suspended.
