Ontonagon man pleads to Depot Park drug case

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Bessemer — An Ontonagon man pleaded guilty to two drug charges in Gogebic County Circuit Court Friday for his role in several Depot Park drug deals.

Justin Michael Olexa, 22, pleaded guilty to delivery of heroin and cocaine charges as part of a plea agreement that will have 10 other counts — a second delivery of heroin charge, two conspiracy to deliver heroin charges and a conspiracy to deliver cocaine charge, three delivery of a controlled substance on school or library property charges, and three delivery/possession of a controlled substance in a park charges — against him dismissed at sentencing.

A habitual offender-third offense notice will also be dismissed as part of the deal.

The agreement also stipulates that the sentences for the two felonies will be served concurrently, rather than one after the other.

The charges stem from several trips Olexa made with co-defendant Alyssa Pollard to Ironwood’s Depot Park to deliver drugs to someone in November 2015.

“I drove a vehicle to deliver heroin,” Olexa said, telling the court he was familiar with the drug as he was using it at the time. “I drove to the Depot in Ironwood and my girlfriend, Alyssa Pollard, did the deal.”

He testified a similar transaction happened with the cocain delivery.

The transactions were all less than a gram, Olexa said.

He also told Gogebic Circuit Judge Michael Pope he was on probation in Gogebic County from an earlier case.

Pollard pleaded guilty in October to one count of delivery of cocaine and one count of delivery of a controlled substance on school or library property. She was sentenced in November to two years in prison.

While he declined to speculate to Olexa’s possible sentence, Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs did tell the Daily Globe that Pollard was the leader in the drug transactions. This could mean Olexa will potentially see a shorter sentence than Pollard’s two-year sentence.

Olexa is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 14.