Plea averts stalking trial’s beginning

The day before his jury trial was slated to begin, a Lawton man pleaded guilty to stalking a Lawton City Jail employee.

Michael Jermaine McLeod, 52, of Lawton, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of stalking in violation of a court order, and misdemeanor counts of driving with a suspended driver’s license, obstructing police and eluding, as well as a separate count of a protective order violation, records indicate.

Comanche County Chief District Judge Grant Sheperd sentenced McLeod to a 10-year suspended sentence for the felony and fines for the misdemeanors, records indicate. He will have two years of Department of Corrections supervision and is to have no contact with the woman while serving his suspended sentence.

The suspended sentence runs consecutive to a 5-year suspended that was revoked for a 2018 felony conviction for stalking in violation of a court order, records indicate.

McLeod accepted guilt for a bizarre Jan. 12, 2023, incident at the Public Safety Building, 100 S. Railroad, where a woman with a protective order against him works at the Lawton City Jail.

Video surveillance showed a vehicle back up and park close to the public entrance to the jail a little after 6 a.m. McLeod opened the rear cargo door and removed a wooden bench adorned with several strange messages on it and placed it on the walkway outside the entrance while the woman was inside at work, the probable cause affidavit states. He then drove away. The woman identified McLeod from a still image from the video.

McLeod was arrested the next day for warrants due to violations of the protective order.

His initial court appearance was on Feb. 9, 2023. He received credit for 586 days serve in the detention center for the 2018 case.