Murderers sentenced Camp Cusino inmates
Murderers sentenced Camp Cusino inmates
By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Munising Bureau
MUNISING — Two former Camp Cusino inmates found guilty of murder by a jury in June were given lengthy prison sentences Wednesday in Alger County Circuit Court.
On June 7, after deliberating a total of 11 hours over two days, a jury of of nine women and three men found Michael Melton, 43, guilty of first-degree murder and Andy Thomas Anderson, 20, guilty of second-degree murder in the Oct. 3, 2005, stabbing death of 21-year-old David Allen Green.
Green was stabbed once through the heart with a prison-made weapon, in an attack at the minimum-security prison located west of Shingleton.
Wednesday, Melton and Anderson were sentenced before Judge William Carmody.
Anderson was ordered to serve an additional 25 years in prison.
In 2005, Anderson was sentenced to two years in state prison for a felony firearms violation. The offense occurred in July 2004 in Wayne County. Anderson was also convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and delivering and manufacturing marijuana, stemming from the same incident.
Anderson’s attorney, James Soderberg of Escanaba, argued Wednesday for a lesser sentence of 221/2 years for his client, based on allowances in sentencing guidelines for a second-degree murder conviction.
“The jury found him less culpable for a number of reasons,” Soderberg said. “He would be no less than forty-two-and-a-half years old by the time he is even eligible (for parole).”
But Carmody said Green’s murder occurred after Anderson initiated a series of events that began with the theft of a pack of playing cards.
“This is a tragedy and one, I would say, you put in motion,” Carmody told Anderson. “We have a person who has lost his life for what you put in motion.”
When asked if he had anything to say prior to Carmody setting sentencing, Anderson — who was sitting in his state blue prison outfit at a table with Soderberg — replied, “No sir.”
Statutes for first-degree murder allowed no latitude for Carmody in sentencing Melton to a life prison term without the possibility of parole.
“We’re faced with what we are,” Carmody said. “A jury has found you, Mr. Melton, guilty of first-degree murder.”
Melton attorney Charles Nebel of Munising said there were no winners in the incident, with the lives of several families touched by the tragedy. He told Carmody Melton was unable to set back the clock and change the events that occurred.
“Mr. Melton certainly regrets his actions,” Nebel said.
Melton has several prior convictions, including a 2- to 10-year sentence for larceny from a person which occurred in 1988. He was also serving additional time for a prison conviction in Chippewa County of being a prisoner possessing weapons. That offense occurred in January 1992 and Melton was sentenced to 4 months to 5 years.
Then in 1995, Melton was sentenced in Wayne County to a 2- to 10-year sentence for larceny from a person. If he served the maximum time on all of his sentences, he would have been scheduled for release in 2013.
Melton had also served time previously for possession of controlled dangerous substances and attempted larceny from a person.
Green’s mother Kimberly listened to the court hearing from Saginaw County via a speaker phone set up in the courtroom. Melton made an attempt to say he felt badly about what had occurred.
He walked shackled up to the judge’s bench to a desk phone and started a statement.
“Mrs. Green,” Melton began.
Then he stopped and whispered in Nebel’s ear.
Nebel said Melton was having difficulties and Nebel finished Melton’s statement of empathy to Mrs. Green.
Kimberly Green had asked for restitution of $500 and said her son’s children have had nightmares about seeing their father at his funeral. She requested the toughest sentence for Anderson and Melton.
“I would like to see both of them get life without parole because that’s more or less what my son got,” she said. “I’m never going to see him again.”
The killing marks the first inmate homicide in the history of the camp.
Green was serving two years and six months to five years for larceny after being sentenced in November 2003 for that January 2002 incident. He was also serving one to six years for a felonious assault, which occurred in June 2003. He was sentenced in April 2004 for that crime.
Had he not been murdered, Green’s earliest possible release date from prison would have been Nov. 11, 2005 — just over one month away from the day he was killed.
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