Man pleads guilty in crash

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – On the day his trial was scheduled to begin, a man pleaded guilty to causing a crash that left three people dead on U.S. Highway 101 east of town.

Michael John Jones, 49, of Port Angeles, “took our offer at the last minute” and pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of vehicular homicide, Clallam County Deputy Prosecutor Jill Landes said.

Under the agreement Landes said she would recommend a five-year prison term when Jones is sentenced on Oct. 24.

Ian Clayton Rolley, 45, his son Jeremy Clayton Rolley, 21, and the son’s friend, Jonathon Jeffrey “J.J.” Brewer, all of Port Angeles, died in the crash on Aug. 3, 2005.

Tests found traces of six drugs in Jones’ blood, including marijuana and methadone, a narcotic painkiller used to wean addicts off heroin, Washington State Patrol investigators wrote.