Former Michigan Dem chair says he filed ethics complaint against Prosecutor Peter Lucido

The former Michigan Democratic Party chairman said Monday that he filed an ethics complaint against Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido, alleging Lucido allowed a former Sterling Heights City Council candidate to use county property, buildings and offices to create photos for political campaign purposes in violation of the county's ethics ordinance.

But Lucido told the Free Press: "It's all untrue. Every bit of his allegations, all untrue."

Mark Brewer, of Clinton Township, said Monday he filed a complaint with the Macomb County Ethics Board alleging Lucido violated the general standards of conduct section and subsections in the county's ethics ordinance.

In his complaint, Brewer alleges Lucido allowed former Sterling Heights City Council candidate Paul Manni to use the county property to create photos for political campaign purposes and asks that Lucido be punished as provided in the county's ethics ordinance.

'How do I know what they're gonna use these pictures for?'

Lucido said he met Manni "one time," and Manni told him he was in the seminary and was going to become a priest. He said Manni could have been in his office, "one time, maybe. If he was, he might have come up to my office. And if he took a picture in my office, a lot of people do. So, I mean, that's all that would have happened. But the county property and this or that, I don't know where he gets off sayin' that. So, he can check his facts, but that is totally untrue."

Lucido added: "People come in my office and say: 'Pete, can I grab a picture with you?' Absolutely, they can grab a picture with me. But if he uses it in a campaign, how in the hell do I know what they're gonna use these pictures for?"

Manni pleaded guilty in October in the county's Circuit Court to three counts of making false statements in an application for an absentee ballot, all 90-day misdemeanors, per online court records. Other felony charges against Manni were dismissed.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office filed the charges against Manni in 2022 in connection with allegations from November 2021. The parties had a sentencing agreement of a $500 fine for each count and no jail time, per court records. Manni was sentenced in December.

Prior to the 2021 election, the Sterling Heights city clerk investigated an incident where Manni delivered approximately 50 absentee voting applications bearing his signature. The city clerk's office was able to contact nine of the voters indicated in the applications, who each indicated they did not want to apply for an absentee ballot, according to a prior Free Press report.

Macomb ethics board to meet in March

It stated that according to the Attorney General's Office, no ballots were sent to voters as a result of Manni's applications.

Lucido said Monday that he wasn't aware of the ethics complaint and hadn't received any notice.

Brewer told the Free Press in an email that he mailed his complaint to the county's ethics board Feb. 2.

"I filed it now because the voters are entitled to know about Lucido's misconduct before they vote on whether to reelect him in November. The complaint is straightforward and the board should take it up as soon as possible," Brewer wrote in the email.

Lucido, a Republican, said Brewer "is making a political attack on me. He should tell the voters he gave $2,000 supporting my opponent ... This is no more than a political hit piece."

An online campaign finance report for Christina Hines, a Democrat running for county prosecutor, shows a $2,000 contribution from Brewer in December.

Lucido also provided a piece of campaign literature for Manni that indicated Lucido and Sheriff Anthony Wickersham, a Democrat, both endorsed Manni, with a photo of Manni and Lucido in Lucido's office and a photo of Wickersham and Manni shaking hands in an outdoor setting.

The ethics board has received the complaint and it will be reviewed for probable cause at its March meeting, Chairperson Dorie Vazquez-Nolan told the Free Press on Tuesday in an email.

The next meeting of the county's ethics board is March 19, per its website.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Michigan Dems chair says he filed ethics complaint against Prosecutor Lucido