REPEAT BERRIEN COUNTY OFFENDERS SENTENCED TO PRISON

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
NILES, MI – A number of area residents were sentenced this week in Berrien County Trial Court at the Niles Courthouse.
Lee Chess Roberts, 34, of Dowagiac, pleaded guilty to resisting and obstructing police, second offense possession of controlled substances, and reckless driving. He was sentenced to 12-24 months in prison on the resisting charge, 38 months to 10 years on the drug charge, and fines and costs on the reckless charge.
Roberts has credit for no time served as he was on parole at the time of the incident. He must pay a total of $521 in fines and costs.
The resisting police and reckless driving incident occurred Jan. 27, 2024, while the controlled substance incident was March 20, 2024. Roberts was sentenced to prison last month in Cass County Circuit Court for a 2023 incident involving the possession of methamphetamine in the Dowagiac area.
Defense attorney Shayne Williams said Roberts has made some bad choices in his life, noting the Cass County incident. Roberts also has had been arrested in Van Buren County and St. Joseph County, Indiana on different charges.
Thomas Michael Lafferty, 45, of Eau Claire, pleaded guilty to resisting and obstructing police and third offense domestic violence and was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 14 to 24 months and 19 to 60 months.
He has no credit since he was on parole from a 2019 conviction for assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder at the time of the incident. He must pay a total of $266 in fines and costs.
The incident occurred June 13. Lafferty’s wife spoke before the sentencing and gave an impassioned defense of her husband. She said that her husband, a military veteran, suffered from mental health issues and had been given a variety of medications by doctors. She said she plans to stand by her husband.
Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Myrene Koch noted that Lafferty threatened to kill officers and injured his wife in the incident.
Defense attorney Carri Briseno said her client regretted his actions and knows he cannot drink alcohol. She also blamed at least part of his problems on him being overmedicated. She said Lafferty has two parole violations and expects to be sent back to prison on the 2019 conviction.
Lafferty apologized to his wife and to the officers who responded. “I apologize to my wife and what I put her through,” he said. “I will feel guilty for that for the rest of my life. I was trying to get her out of the house, and she was trying to help me.”
“I can’t even pretend to be in your shoes and understand what you’ve gone through,” Berrien County Trial Court Judge Gordon Hosbein said. “There are some other demons you are fighting with now; I hope you get help. Don’t be a statistic of another veteran killing himself. I wish we could do more for you but these were terrifying events.”
Jenna Kay Craig-Shirrell, 32, formerly of Niles, now of Kalamazoo, pleaded guilty to third offense drunk driving and was sentenced to 365 days in jail with credit for three days served, revocation of her driver’s license, and $1,558 in fines and costs.
Koch reported that Craig-Shirrell’s blood alcohol level was .166, more than twice the legal limit, and that this was actually her fifth drunk driving offense. This incident involved a crash where others were injured.
Defense attorney Kaitlin Locke noted that Craig-Shirrell has been sober since Feb. 22 and has been on tether since then without any violation. She asked for probation.
Craig-Shirrell said that alcohol has ruined her life and asked to be allowed to stay out of jail to care for her three minor children including one who is pregnant. She said she understands the danger she put others in and pledged to never drink again.
“This is not a drinking problem,” Judge Hosbein said. “I would be the first one to give you a rehabilitation. This is a choice issue after you decided to drink. Drinking isn’t illegal; you can sit on your couch and drink. The problem becomes when you put the community in danger.”
“This was your fifth drunk driving conviction. I should put you in prison for as long as I can, but the attorneys made an agreement for a year in jail, and I would have to break that,” he added. “You made the choice to drink but also to get into a car and drive, and it’s not the first time.”