Ex-Macomb prosecutor Eric Smith is a free man for a little longer
Former Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith will have some more time as a free man.
Smith's new date of surrender to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons is rescheduled to on or after June 15, but no later than June 30, according to a federal court order Monday.
Smith was sentenced Feb. 16 to 21 months in federal prison and he was to report within 90 days of his sentencing -- or next week.
He was accused of stealing money from his campaign fund in a kickback scheme that operated while he was prosecutor. He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in federal court in January 2021 after being accused of stealing just under $75,000 from his campaign fund from 2012 to 2019.
The stipulated order rescheduling Smith's self-surrender was signed by U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker, who sentenced him.
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Smith, 55, of Macomb Township is facing separate state charges accusing him of embezzling money from drug and forfeiture funds in his former office and using the money for personal and unauthorized expenses, including a security system at his home.
"Considering that we don’t have a clear status of the pending state case, it makes sense at this point to briefly delay Mr. Smith’s surrender to the Bureau of Prisons to determine what a clearer pathway for the state case will be in the coming weeks," said John Dakmak, Smith's attorney.
Dakmak said this is "not the norm, but each case is its own circumstances and characteristics. It's appreciated when a judge considers the uniqueness of any particular case."
Smith served as a longtime prosecutor in the third-most populous county in Michigan, with his office overseeing numerous high-profile cases through the years.
He is facing 10 counts in the state case in which he is accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the funds his office oversaw.
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That case is being heard before Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant after all Macomb circuit judges recused themselves.
Last month, Dakmak told Grant there have been some conversations about a potential resolution in the case. He did not want to go into the details of the conversations and asked for another pretrial in the next two to three weeks.
No court date has been set as of Monday, according to circuit court records.
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Two others snared in the embezzlement probe have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Smith resigned March 30, 2020, less than a week after he was charged in the embezzlement probe. Miller resigned in February.
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 Eric Smith is a free man for a little longer
