Alleged guard attacker offered deals

GRAND RAPIDS, mich. (WOOD) - A Kent County jail inmate accused of attacking a corrections officer during an escape attempt said Monday he didn't want any of the three plea deals he was offered.

Willie Lee Wilson Williams was originally arrested after a string of armed robberies in July 2012. In September, he allegedly beat and choked a female corrections officer to unconsciousness after escaping his medium-security cell. Other inmates broke out of their cells to come to her aid, subduing Williams and radioing other guards for help.

Williams was then charged with assaulting a prison employee, escape from jail through violence, assault with intent to murder and being a fourth-time habitual offender.

Williams appeared in Kent County Circuit Court Monday afternoon, where he was offered three different plea deals by Kent County prosecutors:

• Plead guilty to two counts of armed robbery as a third-felony offense. Remaining robbery counts would be dismissed. Williams would go to trial on charges of escape and assault. If convicted at trial, his sentences could run consecutively. Williams would get a small break on his minimum sentence for the armed robbery counts.

• Plead guilty to two counts of armed robbery as a third-felony offense, along with assault with intent to murder and escape from jail. Remaining counts would be dismissed. Sentences would run concurrently rather than back-to-back. The minimum sentence he would receive would be lower than if convicted at trial.

• Plead guilty to two counts of armed robbery, along with assault with intent to murder and escape from jail (same as the second offer, but without the habitual offender charge). Remaining counts would be dismissed. Sentences would run consecutively. Minimum sentence guidelines are lower than the second offer, but sentences would run back-to-back instead of at the same time.

Williams told the judge he wasn't interested, but Judge Mark Trusock scheduled a hearing for next Friday, allowing Williams and his attorneys time to go over the offers and make a decision.

If Williams is convicted following a trial, he faces between 11.25 and 37.5 years in prison for the robberies and between 18.75 and 62.5 years for the assault and attempted escape.

The plea offers would maintain a minimum sentence of 11.25 years, but the deals would reduce the top end of those minimums.