Former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith Pleads Guilty To Obstruction

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — A former suburban Detroit prosecutor pleaded guilty Wednesday to obstructing justice in an investigation of how he spent campaign donations.

Eric Smith, who was Macomb County prosecutor for nearly 16 years, admitted that he attempted to get three people, including two assistant prosecutors, to make false statements about his use of campaign cash.

"I fully accept responsibility for my actions," Smith told the judge. "I acted alone. I acted for my own benefit. I deeply regret my actions and the shame that I've brought to my wife and my children and the office I have spent working for, the people of Macomb County."

Between 2012 and 2020, Smith conducted two fraud schemes to steal approximately $75,000 in cash from his political campaign for personal expenses, federal investigators said.

"No one is above the law in Michigan — and that includes those who enforce the law," U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said.

Smith, a Democrat, quit office last March after he was charged in state court with embezzlement and other crimes related to a different scheme to use money from drunken driving cases, bad check cases and assets forfeited in drug crimes. That case is pending.