McDonald gets 20-year sentence
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – Sixth Circuit Judge Dan Hill has sentenced Jonathan Lee McDonald to a minimum of 20 years in prison, without any reduction for any reason, for his role in a crime spree that occurred in the Milton-Freewater area in 2019 and 2020. McDonald entered guilty pleas on charges on three counts of first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and second-degree burglary.
An investigation by the Milton-Freewater Police Department, assisted by the Umatilla-Morrow Major Crimes Team, determined that McDonald and co-defendant Michael Metcalfe were involved in five separate criminal acts over a three-week period with a total of eight victims.
Metcalfe was convicted in June 2021 of murdering George Martin during that spree. The investigation also showed that the two were responsible for robbing victims at the Red Tea Garden on three different dates and at the First Stop Market on Jan. 3, 2020. McDonald, acting on his own, was also responsible for a robbery at Sam’s Corner Market on Jan. 13, 2020.
Judge Hill handed down the sentence a week ago, and McDonald has already been transferred from Umatilla County Jail to the Oregon Department of Corrections.
Mugshot is a MyCB file photo from McDonald’s initial arrest
