Former U.S. airman Ian Mitchell Wilson pleaded no contest in Oakland County Circuit Court to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct-incapacitated victim. (Oakland County Sheriff’s Office)
(Tribune News Service) — The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office recently made a deal with a former U.S. airman who was arrested at the Washington-Canada border, dismissing nine sex crime charges against him in exchange for his plea on just one.
Ian Mitchell Wilson, 22, of Independence Township pleaded no contest earlier this month in Oakland County Circuit Court to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct-incapacitated victim. The charge stemmed from a Jan. 1, 2021 incident in Waterford Township, where he was accused of assaulting a woman at a New Year’s Eve gathering.
Investigators subsequently linked Wilson to other sexual assaults in Oakland County, dating back to 2017, and charged him with multiple crimes that were dropped as part of his plea deal, court records show.
Charges dismissed with the no contest plea include one count of first degree criminal sexual conduct, three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, four counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.
Ahead of Wilson’s plea, one charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct was dismissed as was one count of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.
Charges were initially filed in 51st District Court in Waterford and 52-2 District Court in Clarkston.
Wilson, who joined the U.S. Air Force in 2018, was arrested on a warrant Feb. 11, 2021 as he attempted to cross the border into Canada from Washington state. He was extradited to Michigan a few weeks later.
Prior to Wilson being taken into custody at the border, the plan was to arrest him when he reported for his shift at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nev. But he didn’t show up for work, so a federal desertion warrant was issued.
Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6 by Judge Mary Ellen Brennan.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such at sentencing. It also can offer some protection in civil cases. Third-degree criminal sexual conduct is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
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