Local police chief acquitted of alleged misconduct

Richmond Police Chief Thomas Costello was acquitted by a jury Friday of alleged unauthorized use of Law Enforcement Information Network information.

The verdict came more than three months after a plea deal between Costello and Macomb County fell apart hours after he was sentenced to jail.

"He should have never been charged in the first place," said Arthur Weiss, Costello's attorney.

Costello was charged in 2022 with unauthorized use of the Law Enforcement Information Network, a nationwide system that provides law enforcement to access information including criminal records from other departments in the network.

The network is only supposed to be used for law enforcement purposes, and unauthorized use is a misdemeanor in Michigan. Law enforcement agencies can lose access to the system if they allow unauthorized access.

According to Weiss, Costello looked up the address of a person who was the subject of a child custody case.

Weiss argued Costello's use of the system was not a crime because the information was publicly available.

"The particular street that was accessed could be accessed by Google. It was public information," Weiss said.

Weiss also said Costello's use of the system did not personally benefit him and fell under his duties as a law enforcement officer.

Dawn Fraylick, communications director for the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, declined to comment on the verdict.

Costello had previously agreed to plead no contest in August. New Baltimore District Judge William Hackel III sentenced him to five days in jail, a punishment that was not part of the plea deal, which led Costello to withdraw from the agreement and take the case to a jury.

Weiss said Costello returned to working as police chief immediately after the verdict came down.

Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Local police chief acquitted of alleged misconduct