BARAGA, MI— Baraga County’s prosecuting attorney says “no more plea deals” when it comes to methamphetamine.
In a press release, Joseph O’Leary says plea bargains are an integral part of criminal proceedings in the U.S., and without them, the criminal justice system would collapse under its own weight. So, his office uses plea bargaining to secure justice for victims and hold perpetrators accountable for their actions in a cost-effective, timely manner.
But, O’Leary says, in the last few years, Baraga County and nearly all counties across the country have experienced a meth scourge that is devastating to individuals, families, and communities and threatens to overwhelm law enforcement. He notes it’s highly toxic and destroys the user’s higher intellectual functioning, including the ability to discern right from wrong and healthy from unhealthy.
The prosecutor says he’s had enough, and something needs to change in the way the justice system deals with meth.
O’Leary says as of Tuesday, February 7, 2023, anyone who manufactures and/or delivers meth in Baraga County will not be offered a plea deal of any kind and must risk the full penalties of Michigan law.
The full release is below.
