Two Michigan regulators take plea deals in Flint water case
LANSING (AP) — Two Michigan environmental regulators implicated in the Flint water scandal have pleaded no contest to misdemeanors in exchange for more serious charges being dropped.
Michael Prysby and Stephen Busch, employees at the state Department of Environmental Quality, also agreed to testify against others under the terms of their deals.
They entered their pleas Wednesday.
A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
Prysby and Busch had been charged with misconduct in office and tampering with water monitoring reports — both felonies — along with misdemeanor violations of Michigan's drinking water law.
The development means six of the 15 current or former state and local officials charged in Flint's water crisis have agreed to deals.
The other cases are moving slowly.
Conviction stands in case tied to student’s 2000 kidnapping
DETROIT (AP) — An appeals court has affirmed the conviction and long prison sentence of a Wisconsin woman who lived under an alias for 16 years while trying to dodge a kidnapping case in Michigan.
Kim Johns was accused of kidnapping her former lover at gunpoint in 2000 and taking her on an eight-day journey to Illinois and Iowa.
Prosecutors said she was upset because the 19-year-old Detroit-area college student was ending their relationship.
Johns was captured in 2016 and convicted the next year in Detroit federal court.
Appeals Court Judge Alice Batchelder calls it a “salacious tale of star-crossed lovers.” But she says the issues on appeal are “dry, technical and straightforward.”
In a 3-0 decision last week, the court affirmed key trial rulings by Judge George Caram Steeh.
Johns of Marathon County, Wisconsin, is serving a 14-year prison sentence.
Michigan company sues 3M over chemicals
GRAND RAPIDS (AP) — A western Michigan-based footwear company has sued a chemical manufacturer linked to contaminated water detected at military bases and industrial sites.
Wolverine World Wide recently filed the federal lawsuit against 3M, alleging the Minnesota-based company concealed information about the potential environmental risks of chemicals in Scotchgard and other products.
The companies are co-defendants in cases involving perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS.
Rockford-based Wolverine, which disposed of PFAS-laden waste for years at a landfill, says it must defend a 3M “product” now considered “a waste.”
3M says it acted responsibly, adding it “will vigorously defend its environmental stewardship.”
In February, it agreed to pay Minnesota $850 million to settle a case alleging the manufacturer damaged natural resources and contaminated groundwater by disposing of chemicals.
Research shows PFAS poses health risks.
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