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Credit Union Exec Who Embezzled $20 Million Wants Reduced 5-Year Sentence: 'My Life Is Ruined'

CLARKSTON (WWJ) - An Oakland County credit union executive will be sentenced Thursday for embezzling nearly $20 million, but he's asking for mercy because his life is "ruined."

Micheal LaJoice pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of bank fraud in exchange for a reduced sentence of 10 to 12-and-a-half years in prison. The one-time chief financial officer of the Clarkston-Brandon Community Federal Union admitted to stealing the money over eight years, buying a luxurious home, fancy cars and commercial properties, and traveling by private jet.

Prosecutors are recommending an 11-year sentence, while LaJoice's attorneys say he should only get five, because his life is ruined.

"'Warehousing' LaJoice for 11 years at public expense is overkill," Attorney Michael Manley wrote in a court filing. "Is society better off incarcerating LaJoice for an extra six years, or would society be better off allowing him to be a husband and father, at home raising his children, part of an intact family unit?"

Manley said LaJoice has already repaid several million in restitution, liquidated his properties and business holdings and surrendered proceeds from a "great deal" of personal property, including pricey Detroit Tigers and Pistons tickets.

"Yes, LaJoice embezzled a staggering amount of money over several years. Yes, he should be punished for that. But he has tried to make things right through extraordinary efforts at paying restitution, an exceptional acceptance of responsibility, and an unusual level of cooperation," said Manley.

To do this, he took from his own family—a wife and three children innocent of any wrongdoing, who had to move from their dream home and shed themselves of the life they had grown accustomed to. A family who had no reason to know that their home and vacations and nice things had been bought with funds that their husband and dad stole. For LaJoice, this has been the most painful part: having the shame and hurt of what he has done to his family and the dire financial straits he has stranded them in. 

Manley went on to say that LaJoice "will not handle prison well."

"LaJoice is ruined. He is disgraced. He will never be offered employment where trust is involved. The loss of being a husband and especially a father is devastating punishment," he said. "LaJoice has been humbled and destroyed."

LaJoice's scheme unraveled after serious accounting irregularities were discovered during a routine visit from the Department of Insurance and Financial Services. After LaJoice was confronted about the errors, officials say he failed to show up for work the following day and was immediately terminated as CFO, a position that he held since June 2015. He then turned himself in to police.

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