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Former Prosecutor Pleads Guilty To Misconduct

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - The Detroit-area's former top drug prosecutor has pleaded guilty to misconduct in office for covering up the role of a paid police informant in a major cocaine bust.

Karen Plants' deal Wednesday with the state attorney general's office calls for a jail sentence of six months.

Plants led the drug unit at the Wayne County prosecutor's office. She has acknowledged allowing an informant and others to lie at a 2005 trial about a 103-pound cocaine seizure. She has said it was to protect the man's safety.

Plants' guilty plea follows similar deals with two former Inkster police officers. Retired Judge Mary Waterstone was aware of the perjured testimony and faces trial in May.

"The related case against Judge Mary Waterstone is continuing, and the sentencing hearings for Ms.Plants and the two officers are pending before Judge Timothy Kenny.  For ethical reasons  I will reserve my comments until all of the cases have concluded," said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy in a statement.

The man charged in the cocaine case pleaded guilty after his trial ended in a mistrial.
© 2011 WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to his report.

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