Township man's plea stands

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Bessemer — An Ironwood Township man will serve at least 25 years in prison after he let his guilty plea to two sex crimes stand in Gogebic County Circuit Court Tuesday.

Jason Elliot Irvine, 47, originally pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct in November. Each of those carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Last week, Gogebic County Circuit Judge Michael Pope ruled Irvine hadn’t been adequately informed of the mandatory minimums when he agreed to his plea and gave Irvine until Tuesday to decide whether he wanted to withdraw the plea or let it stand.

Irvine said he was keeping his plea to avoid the potential life sentence if he was found guilty of the crimes after a trial.

“It’s one of those things where if I didn’t sign (the plea agreement), I was going to go to prison for 100 and some years,” Irvine said.

The plea agreement in the case will have Irvine serve the two 25-year sentences concurrently, and three other first degree criminal sexual conduct charges will be dismissed at sentencing.

Irvine was arrested in September following an investigation into his online activity, which began when a Tumblr user contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding suspicious activity related to an account on the online forum where users post blog entries, photographs, videos and music.

Irvine said at his original plea hearing he had sex with a 10-year-old relative at his Margaret Street house at least twice.

If Irvine is released from prison, he will subjected to electronic monitoring for the rest of his life.

Irvine’s decision to have his plea stand means he will be sentenced Jan. 23.