James Forrest Chapman takes plea deal of misdemeanor stalking

On Nov. 30 in the Detroit courtroom of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Van Houten, James Forrest Chapman of Van Buren Township pled no contest to a one-year charge of misdemeanor stalking.
Accepting the plea deal, Judge Van Houten sentenced him to two years of probation, with the first year being reporting probation.
She also gave him 90 days to remove his logging operation and other property from Hull Road.
Van Buren Township Police Lt. Charles Bazzy said although Chapman had called for a jury trial, the jury trial had been cancelled. He said if found guilty of the original charge of aggravated stalking, Chapman could have faced five years in prison, which could have been doubled to ten years since he is considered a habitual offender.
Lt. Bazzy said the Wayne County Prosecutor is appealing District Court Judge Brian Oakley’s recent dismissal of a misdemeanor charge against Chapman for refusing to give a DNA sample when he was arrested for the stalking charge.
If the appeal is successful, VBT Police will take a DNA sample from Chapman.