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Former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith pleads guilty to obstruction of justice
By Jack Nissen
MACOMB CO., Mich. - A former Macomb County prosecutor has pled guilty to an obstruction of justice charge after a federal investigation into fraud schemes he ran while in office.
Eric Smith admitted to investigators that he asked coworkers and friends to make false statements to law enforcement regarding a probe into thefts of tens of thousands of dollars through a political campaign fund.
Smith s guilty plea included an admission that he stole a total of $74,000 over two instances after writing checks to friends for office space and consulting work that instead was kicked back to Smith.
Eric Smith Former Macomb Prosecutor Eric Smith, 54, who had been elected to enforce the law, is now a convicted felon. Smith, a Macomb Township resident, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit to one count of obstructing justice in an FBI investigation into the suspected misuse of $70,000 in campaign funds for his personal use. Under his plea agreement, he will be disbarred and forfeit the $69,950 he gained from the fraudulent scheme. Any attempt to hinder a criminal investigation is a very serious matter, said Timothy Waters, head of the Detroit FBI. This case, a man who had taken an oath to uphold the law, was actively encouraging others to break it. That Mr. Smith was unsuccessful in his attempt to undermine the investigation is a testament to the determination of the FBI to hold individuals accountable when they break the law.
Meet the new Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office
(WXYZ)
and last updated 2021-01-27 08:31:18-05
(WXYZ) â In December, the FBI announced that Timothy Waters would be the new Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit field office.
Beginning Thursday on 7 Action News at 6 a.m., Simon Shaykhet will talk with Waters about the threats Michigan is facing, domestic terrorism and much more
Waters has spent the past two decades in the FBI after joining in 2000, where he started in Detroit working on white collar crime.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, he was transitioned over to the counterterrorism unit, and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006.
Former police officer pleads guilty to pistol-whipping motorists
“Most police officers honorably serve and uphold their mission to protect the citizens of Michigan, but this is a rare example of an officer who has fallen far below his duty.”
Indicted on six counts of civil rights violations, obstruction of justice, and firearms offenses, a former Michigan police officer pleaded guilty Friday to using excessive force against a civilian arrestee and violating the arrestee’s civil rights. According to the plea agreement, the officer admitted to pistol-whipping two separate motorists in the same night.
On June 22, 2014, Hamtramck Police Officer
Ryan McInerney and another officer were in pursuit of a red Honda when