‘No contest’ pleaded
By GARRETT NEESE, DMG WriterArticle Photos
HOUGHTON - The suspect in an arson at a new apartment building on College Avenue pleaded no contest to two counts in Houghton County Circuit Court Wednesday.
Police say Jesse Higgins, 20, broke into the building on April 23, started a structure fire and cut a gas line.
"Had that ignited, the whole building would be gone," said Houghton County Prosecutor Michael Makinen.
Makinen said the no-contest plea was due to the "extreme amount" of alcohol Higgins drank that night, as well as potential civil liability.
A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for the purposes of sentencing.
Higgins is charged with attempted arson and attempted malicious destruction of a building - $20,000 or more, both five-year felonies.
A 10-year breaking and entering with intent charge was dismissed in a plea agreement.
While Judge Charles Goodman was asking about a factual basis for the value of the damage, a man in the gallery tried to get his attention. Goodman initially ignored him until Makinen assured him it was the building's owner, Jonathon Julien.
Julien said the building was appraised at $2.5 million; the project had included $1 million of his own money.
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese @mininggazette.com.
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Chalupa
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07-11-09 11:43 AM
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I don't think it was ever mentioned anywhere, but this all happened the night of Jesse's 21st birthday. From that I can assume that he consumed at LEAST 21 shots of alcohol. I agree that it is not normal behavior, but it also wasn't a normal night of drinking for Jesse. He's actually a really cool, laid-back guy who happened to do something extremely stupid one night. There's no doubt he was trying to be destructive in that state of mind, but I know he would never INTENTIONALLY hurt anyone. This isn't some criminal that needs to be locked away for ten years; it would ruin his life. I hope the judge realizes this and that the punishment is fitting, because Jesse deserves a chance to get his life together and move on.
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Clearwater
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07-03-09 9:39 AM
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Go you Huskies!
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Snogosit
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07-03-09 7:49 AM
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Local Mom, "But if you ask Tech, their students don't have drinking problems. Right." Why so bitter towards Tech? Of a whole host of alcohol abuse prevention programs, Tech just received a $100,000+ grant to do more for alcohol abuse prevention. Looks like to me they aren't in denial, but are, instead, working on greater measures. is.gd/1miXg
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ChristianRiedel
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07-03-09 4:16 AM
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To local mom...the only drinking problem we have is when we run out of beer. Singling out Tech for having drinking problems is unfair, granted, many students, including myself, pride ourselves for being able to outdrink other schools. I still know plenty of non-tech students who have drinking "problems" too, and hey, your never an alcoholic until you go to a meeting, you're just a drunk. Oh, and might I add that I believe he was a member of a Greek organization, in case you need some other group to pick on.
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RabbitKiller
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07-02-09 10:51 PM
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maybe he was just attempting some alcohol inspired, reverse engineering.
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MTUforlife
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07-02-09 7:16 PM
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I'm glad that no one was hurt, and I certainly don't condone the actions that took place, but the repetitive comments about MTU students and drinking is pretty ignorant. If it wasn't for the universities in this area, these towns would be in way worse shape than they are now. I wish the DMG would put articles out for every drinking incident from locals, then it would give everyone something else to complain about. This is directly stated from the comments of this article, but from others in the past. You don't have to praise the students or create exceptions, but don't relate dumb drinking incidents to strictly MTU students.
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Madcap
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07-02-09 5:21 PM
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not proud of this fact but in my day I've gone out and consumed extreme amounts of alcohol and even if I was angry I didn't have any urges to be malicious destructive or violent. There really must be some thing underlying here. Not the normal behavior. A attended MTU as well. Thank goodness the massive consumption and drunken days are over!
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SarahPalin
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07-02-09 4:32 PM
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Alcohol rehab... pffffft... hey, I'm all for giving 20-year-olds a second chance, but I think the urge to blow up buildings runs a little deeper than what can be explained away by a six-pack of Bud Light. Assuming our police got this one right, he's a nut, and seeing as he's coming loose at the seams while frolicking at Tech, I suspect he's about one job layoff away from cutting gas lines in occupied buildings. Give him his counseling in prison.
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LocalMom
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07-02-09 3:27 PM
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Man, those new apartment buildings are ugly (and grossly overpriced), but this was going too far. I am just glad that no one was hurt when this idiot decided to tie one on and throw his own personal barbeque, including the idiot himself. But if you ask Tech, their students don't have drinking problems. Right.
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angles
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07-02-09 1:50 PM
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make him go AA for many years then see how he is. alcohol is a big thing up here, we need to try to fix the problem, just thrownig him in jail wont help him. but you can just let him run loose either.
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jesusrulez
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07-02-09 12:13 PM
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Humanity, itself, is pretty darn frightening. Remember anything from history class? With the way the college kids drink these days, this is no surprise and I hope that he can do the least amount of jail in addition to some intense alcohol treatment. We really need to get off this whole fifty percent of the worlds prison population. Obviously we're doing something wrong.
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Clearwater
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07-02-09 11:42 AM
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Why no mention that he's an MTU student? Is that a new DMG policy?
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SarahPalin
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07-02-09 11:42 AM
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Sheesh, most people who drink "extreme amounts" of alcohol just pee on the fire hydrant or something -- this guy tries to blow up buildings! Scary. I hope his booze-athon isn't a mitigating factor when they decide how long to throw him in the slammer (assuming he's guilty of course). Sounds like alcohol just takes the mask off something pretty darn frightening.
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