LOVE AFTER LOCKUP Douglas Howard pleads guilty, facing up to 24 years in prison

Love After Lockup inmate Douglas Howard has taken a plea deal that will reportedly result in a prison sentence between 7 and 24 years.

@MerryPants on Instagram broke the news of the plea deal earlier today. “He’s finally taken the plea deal. With all charges but one ‘criminal enterprise first degree’ dropped, he faces 7 to 24 years. The plea deal included charges faced in the other county, to be served concurrently. Sentencing is in July.”

Online court records confirm that Douglas pleaded guilty to a felony count of conducting a criminal enterprise in Michigan’s 36th Circuit Court on Tuesday. The plea resulted in the following charges being dismissed:
 
• Using computers/internet to communicate with others to commit crime
 
• Receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle (2 counts)
 
• Stealing/retaining a financial transaction device without consent (2 counts)

In addition to those charges being dropped, prosecutors also agreed to drop the habitual offender sentence enhancement. Doug is scheduled for sentencing on July 18.

@MerryPants mentions the fact that Doug is facing additional charges in another county and reveals the plea deal includes those as well.

As we previously reported, Doug was charged with torture, unlawful imprisonment and assault with a dangerous weapon stemming from an incident in March of 2021 during which Doug and and an accomplice allegedly kidnapped and tortured a man they believed stole a truck from Doug.

UPDATE – Starcasm spoke with a Circuit Court representative on May 5 who stated that the charges in the paragraph above are all still active. The next hearing in that case is a settlement conference scheduled for June 15.

Exclusive details on the felony torture, unlawful imprisonment and assault with a dangerous weapon charges recently filed against #LoveAfterLockup star Douglas Howard. [WARNING: The details are quite graphic and disturbing.] https://t.co/wfcu8CyCSD pic.twitter.com/0F0dM3DMdr

— Starcasm (@starcasm) November 18, 2021

In addition to those felonies, Doug was also facing felony counts of “stolen property – receiving and concealing – motor vehicle” and “police officer – assaulting resisting obstructing” after Doug and six others were arrested in August as part of a Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team (KVET) “methamphetamine distribution, illegal firearms, and stolen vehicle investigation.”

Unfortunately, those cases look to have been bound over to Michigan’s 9th Circuit Court, which has absolutely no information available online. Michigan sentencing guidelines state that the criminal enterprise charge Doug pleaded guilty to is punishable by “imprisonment up to 20 years, a fine up to $100,000, or both, and asset forfeiture.”

Michigan 36th Circuit Court records indicate that Doug entered into a Killebrew agreement and a Cobbs agreement, which means that he will not be sentenced outside of the guidelines. I am guessing that means Doug also pleaded guilty to at least one other count in his 9th Circuit Court case in order to merit the 24-year maximum sentence reported by @MerryPants. That is purely speculation.

Regardless, Doug looks to be going away for a long, long time. Given his extensive criminal history, and the laundry list of felonies he was recently charged with, I cannot imagine the judge will not lean towards to maximum of 24 years during sentencing. We will continue to monitor Doug’s case and update when he is sentenced.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com