Kolodziej case rooted in affair, documents
One potential charge to former assistant attorney general lies in manipulated paperwork
The assistant attorney general who prosecuted an accused rapist in the Isabella County Trial Court will face charges that he manipulated paperwork, including a report that led to a hold-up on the day of sentencing, and for his well-publicized affair with a complaining witness.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said Thursday he couldn’t go into specifics about the charges he planned to file against Brian Kolodziej because Kolodziej hadn’t been arraigned.
Documents filed with the Isabella County Trial Court on Thursday, however, point to one charge related to the manipulation of reports. The other, for his well-publicized affair with Rachel Wilson, who accused Elliott of raping her on Aug. 31, 2016.
According to an affidavit signed by Michigan State Police Sergeant Jacquelyn Stasiak, who investigated the case for Becker,
Kolodziej filed a report to a presentence investigator that was different than the one he provided to Elliott’s defense attorney, Joe Barberi.
“The discrepancies between the two reports led to an inaccurate PSI report which made Ian Elliott appear more culpable,” the affidavit said.
Elliott’s sentencing was held up by the discrepancy for almost an hour. After the sentencing was complete, Barberi told reporters in front of the courthouse that the delay was caused by Kolodziej’s different reports.
Elliott was sentenced to a year in prison that day. Kolodziej blamed Karen Fairley, a special
Kolodziej hasn’t been charged, or even arrested. The Morning Sun doesn’t normally name people before they are arraigned; however, it was publicly announced Thursday that Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker planned to press these charges.
investigator with the Office of the Attorney General, for the error.
It wasn’t the first time Kolodziej was believed to have manipulated a report. On Feb. 28, 2019, Kolodziej told Fairley to alter an investigative report she wrote about the case. He told her he wanted it to reflect his understanding of the facts.
A copy of a report written by a “Karen Fairley” was found on Kolodziej’s computer during the investigation, and according to the affidavit it was last saved by Kolodziej on Feb. 28, 2019.
Fairley disappeared from Kolodziej’s team during the early spring of 2019. Barberi repeatedly told Janes that he had attempted to make contact with her, but that Kolodziej wasn’t cooperative. Janes ultimately told Kolodziej to provide Barberi with her contact information.
Fairley is listed in the affidavit as one of the witnesses.
The other count is directly related to the relationship Kolodziej was having with Wilson. It accuses Kolodziej of carrying on the affair from April to September, without recusing himself or informing Barberi that he was no longer “an independent, objective party.”
Revelations of the affair broke less than a month after Elliott’s sentencing on one count of third- degree criminal sexual conduct. Originally, he was charged with three counts, plus one count of assault with intent to commit sexual assault.
He was also charged with one count of CSC-3 in a different case, involving a witness who testified at Elliott’s February 2019 preliminary exam.
His late-july 2019 no contest plea deal to one count resolved both cases.
Kolodziej prosecuted the case after the Isabella County Prosecutor’s Office had dismissed the original charges. Originally, he attempted to have the county’s charges reinstated, but that was denied by a visiting judge in December of 2018.
The Office of the Attorney General became interested in the case after a victim’s account story was published by Central Michigan LIFE in early October 2018. Then-attorney General Bill Schuette announced in late October that his office would take the case forward.
Kolodziej hasn’t been charged, or even arrested. The Morning Sun doesn’t normally name people before they are arraigned; however, it was publicly announced Thursday that Becker planned to press these charges.
Becker’s office also investigated whether Kolodziej had tampered with documents regarding a sex crime case out of Oakland County. Ultimately, Becker said investigators found specific reason to bring charges.