Ex-Macomb prosecutor Eric Smith accepts plea offer in embezzlement case, per court records
Former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith accepted a plea offer made by state prosecutors in an embezzlement case alleging he misused drug and forfeiture funds in his former office, according to court records.
Smith has a pretrial conference Tuesday before Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant, who was assigned the case after all the Macomb County Circuit judges recused themselves.
A written plea agreement, mirroring one read into the record during a hearing in June, was filed with the Macomb County Circuit Court on Wednesday, the date set for Smith to accept or reject the offer.
The court documents indicate the agreement was signed Tuesday by Smith and his attorney. The papers also are signed by the lead state assistant attorney general on the case.
The plea agreement has to be accepted by the court.
Charges to which Smith agreed to plead guilty
Smith, 56, is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars for personal and unauthorized business expenses over many years in office. He pleaded guilty to an unrelated federal charge and served seven months in prison in that case.
The plea agreement filed with the Macomb County Circuit Court states Smith will plead guilty to one count of official misconduct in office, a five-year felony; tampering with evidence, a four-year felony, and conspiracy to commit forgery of a false receipt, a 14-year felony.
Smith will acknowledge "that he acted with corrupt intent ... in the exercise of his office while the elected Macomb County prosecutor, including by misusing public funds, that his acts were wrongful and malfeasance," per the agreement.
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The date of the first act that resulted in the charge is March 24, 2014, six years prior to the filing of the complaint, per the agreement, and states that Smith "so acted on other dates thereafter."
The sentence agreement
Per the agreement, a restitution order will be entered by the court at sentencing in the amount of $25,000 in favor of the prosecutor's office drug and OWI forfeiture accounts.
"The parties agree that Defendant Smith will be sentenced to incarceration in county jail for 12 months. This term of incarceration will be served concurrently with the term Defendant Smith was and is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons" imposed in his federal case.
The court will set any and all other terms of Smith's sentence, per the agreement, and the parties agree if the plea is accepted by the court and after sentencing, prosecutors will dismiss seven other charges against Smith.
Smith, a Democrat, resigned from his position as the longtime prosecutor on March 30, 2020, less than a week after he was charged in the state embezzlement probe. He has been disbarred, according to a prior notice on the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.
Three others, including two former assistant prosecutors, are awaiting sentencing for their roles in the state embezzlement probe involving Smith.
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Smith was released from federal prison in February after being sentenced for stealing money from his campaign fund in the unrelated federal case.
He pleaded guilty in federal court in January 2021 after being accused of stealing just under $75,000 from his campaign fund from 2012 to 2019. He was sentenced Feb. 16, 2022, to 21 months in federal prison. He reported to federal prison in June of last year and was released early after serving nearly seven months.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Macomb prosecutor accepts plea offer in embezzlement case, per court records
