Former police officer pleads guilty in public integrity case

A former Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety officer who was previously bound over to circuit court on misconduct and perjury charges following a 2019 incident in Jackson County has pleaded guilty, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday.

David Lubahn, 52, pled guilty Tuesday before 22nd Circuit Court Judge Carol Kuhnke  to a two-year offense of lying to a peace officer. Kuhnke was appointed to preside over the case.

Lubahn was charged in September 2020 with one count of perjury of a record or document, a 15-year felony, and one count of misconduct in office, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He was bound over in February on both counts. 

“We hold police officers to a high standard and expect them to abide by the law in each and every circumstance,” said Nessel. “Mr. Lubahn broke the law and must be held accountable.”

Lubahn was an on-duty Blackman Township-Leoni Township police officer when he conducted an illegal search and seizure.  Lubahn subsequently made false statements in his police report and a misrepresentation and omission in the affidavit for a search warrant about his actions.  The entire incident was caught on Lubahn’s body worn camera video.  Once charges were filed and announced on September 15, 2020, Lubahn was fired from the Blackman Township-Leoni Township Public Safety Department.

As part of the plea agreement reached, Lubahn will forfeit his Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) law enforcement license and he must waive his administrative appeal rights.  Lubahn will be unable to serve as a police officer  in Michigan again.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 4 at 1:30 p.m. in the 22nd Circuit Court.