Chatfields offer not guilty pleas
Former Mich. House speaker, wife face conspiracy, embezzlement charges
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican from Levering, and his wife, Stephanie Chatfield, pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and conspiracy charges, their attorneys said Thursday morning.
Prosecutors have alleged that Lee Chatfield improperly used public funds and money raised through a nonprofit to pay for flights, meals and family vacations while he was in office.
Lee Chatfield led House Republicans as speaker in 2019 and 2020, having served two previous terms as a lawmaker before that. He faces 13 embezzlement, conspiracy and larceny charges in East Lansing’s 54B District Court. Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the charges against Chatfield, as well as one count each of embezzlement and conspiracy against his wife, Stephanie, in April. At that news conference, Nessel said the investigation into the Chatfields’ finances is ongoing.
Through his attorney, Mary Chartier, Lee Chatfield has long denied any wrongdoing. An investigation launched in January 2022 by the Michigan State Police initially focused on allegations of sexual assault made by his sister-inlaw, with whom he admitted having an affair but maintained it was consensual. The investigation later expanded to probe claims of financial misconduct. At the April news conference announcing the financial charges, Nessel said the investigation into the sexual assault allegations was closed without any charges.
The Chatfields appeared via video in front of District Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt on Thursday for their arraignment. Arraignments are typically straightforward affairs — a judge will read the charges levied and the maximum penalty for them, and inform defendants of their rights in the criminal justice system. The most serious charge faced by Lee Chatfield, conducting a criminal enterprise, is a 20-year felony. Both charges against Stephanie Chatfield carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Personal recognizance bonds were set for both Lee and Stephanie Chatfield, meaning they’d only have to pay
bond if they violated the court’s conditions. Hennessey Greenwalt said the Chatfields must inform the court when they leave the state of Michigan and surrender their passports, among other conditions.
Defense attorneys asked Hennessey Greenwalt not to order the Chatfields to surrender their passports, but the judge ultimately set it as part of the bond conditions.
“It has been almost two and a half years that Mr. Chatfield has had to live under the umbrella of allegations being made,” Chartier said. “His allegations, his life, have been in the media regularly. He has been wrongfully maligned. There’s been speculation, rumor, innuendo, false claims, throughout all of that he has never fled, not once.”
A preliminary examination date was tentatively set for June 13, although attorneys recognized the date as a placeholder, as the Attorney General’s Office has not yet turned over discovery evidence to defense lawyers.
Nessel’s office alleges Lee Chatfield used a political nonprofit, the Peninsula Fund, to cover personal expenses, including a $132,000 credit card balance. In an affidavit, an investigator wrote the credit card was used to pay for charges “clearly personal in nature,” including purchases at gift shops at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and other expenses made during a family vacation in November 2020.
The affidavit also asserts Lee Chatfield participated in a “check kickback” scheme, where checks were written using money from the Peninsula Fund under the guise of paying for official purposes, but the money was collected for personal uses, including during a trip to the Bahamas in 2018.
The Attorney General’s Office also alleges Lee Chatfield wrongly sought mileage and travel reimbursements afforded to him as a member of the House for trips he didn’t take and personally profited from subletting an apartment paid for by the Peninsula Fund.
Anne and Robert Minard, who worked for Lee Chatfield while he was a lawmaker and also ran a political consulting firm in Lansing, were charged in December with multiple counts including embezzlement, conducting a criminal enterprise and intent to defraud under false pretenses.
Both have pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary examination hearing in their case is slated in 54B District Court for June.