Former Super 8 motel clerk facing felony charges
A former motel clerk on probation is facing felony false report and conspiracy charges after he and a convicted felon on parole allegedly staged a robbery in September.
James Mikeal Smelley II, 22, of Mount Pleasant, was arraigned Monday after turning himself in to police for his role in the Sept. 6. robbery of the Super 8 Motel, 2323 S. Mission St.
Smelley is facing up to 10 years in prison if found guilty on charges of embezzlement between $200 and $1,000, false report of a felony, conspiracy embezzlement and conspiracy false report.
He was allegedly in cahoots with a supposed armed robber, named in court documents as Donald Ladon Jones, 25, of Detroit.
Smelley told police that Jones stuck a gun in his face and fled south on foot after taking an undisclosed sum of money and demanding the surveillance tape from behind the front desk.
Jones, who is currently on parole from state prison, has not yet been arrested, pending further investigation, according to police.
According to Michigan State Police offender tracking, Jones was paroled in July 2007 while serving three to 20 years for dealing cocaine in 2004.
In April 2002, while living in Mount Pleasant, Jones was sentenced to two to 15 years for a series of burglaries at Jamestown Apartments the year before, when Jones and two other men broke into 14 student apartments during winter break and stole thousands of dollars worth of computers, TVs, video games and more.
Jones also pleaded guilty to dealing marijuana, and no contest to a domestic violence charge in 2004.
Smelley was sentenced to four months in jail and three years on probation last September after pleading guilty to two counts of dealing marijuana.
According to court documents, he was paying off $1,145 in fines and costs from that conviction when LaBelle Management of Mount Pleasant, which owns the Super 8, fired him immediately following the robbery.
Smelley also pleaded guilty to third degree retail fraud in January 2006, receiving four months of probation.
Management at the motel would not comment on the case. According to police, the motel was robbed once before in the past three years.
Detectives were able to break the case with assistance from the public.
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