Court records show Yshelu Johnson, 41, pleaded guilty to an added charge of fraud under false pretenses during a scheduled preliminary hearing in Washtenaw County District Court. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to 93 days in jail. However, his sentence could be enhanced as a result of his prior criminal record, which includes multiple arrests for aggressive panhandling, drug possession, burglary and threatening behavior, records show. Ann Arbor police alone arrested Johnson more than two dozen times since 2000, officials said. He was notorious for using a gas can to try and convince people that would pass by him on the streets that he needed money for gas.
Yshelu Johnson sat in an restaurant, picking at his food and trying to recall where making amends to those he had harmed fit into his 12-step addiction recovery program. "Is it step eight?" asked the Ann Arbor man, formerly homeless and a criminal, who admits he used crack cocaine for nearly 15 years.
