Spranger pleads to reduced charge
Former clerk to repay $1,660 to elderly woman
The former Macomb County clerk accused of stealing money from an elderly woman pleaded no contest to a reduced charge and agreed to repay the funds.
Karen Spranger, 68, who was charged with felony larceny between $1,000 and $20,000, pleaded to a misdemeanor, disturbing the peace, and will pay back $1,660 to a woman from whom she stole, according to court records.
Spranger entered the plea Wednesday in front of Judge Diane Druzinski in Macomb County Circuit Court during a hearing held over Zoom video, in a plea deal with Macomb prosecutors.
She was sentenced immediately to pay restitution as well as ordered to pay a $300 fine and $125 in a crime-victims rights fee and court costs.
Spranger’s attorney, Joe Arnone, noted the charge went from a felony punishable by up to five years in prison to a 90-day misdemeanor.
“It was a good resolution for my client,” Arnone told The Macomb Daily following the hearing. “I think the resolution speaks for itself.”
He said he doesn’t believe the charges or the case overall is related to Spranger’s time as county clerk from January 2017 to March 2018.
The disturbing-the-peace charge is related to a heated argument between Spranger and the complainant in the parking lot of the complainant’s apartment building parking lot about one month after the alleged theft, Arnone said. The complainant fell and was helped up by Spranger, he said.
The no contest plea was allowed because she didn’t recall exactly when the argument occurred, and it provides some legal protection in civil court, although it is treated as a guilty plea in criminal court.
Spranger allegedly stole the $1,660 from a then 78-year-old woman she was caring for in January 2019 by withdrawing funds from the woman’s bank account via an ATM machine at a Chase Bank in Warren without the woman’s permission. Spranger was arrested in May 2019. Police initially couldn’t locate her but found her at a Warren eatery.
A trial in the case had been set for earlier this month but was adjourned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It had been rescheduled for September, but a pretrial was held Wednesday.
Druzinski set a review date for Sept. 10, but it will be cancelled if Spranger pays restitution and the fine and costs, records say.
Spranger was removed from her post by a St. Clair County in March 2018 judge because she didn’t reside where she swore she did on an affidavit of candidacy signed in April 2016.
In November 2016, the Republican narrowly defeated Democrat Fred Miller to win the office. Her 15-month tenure was filled with conflict with county officials and employees and resulted in multiple lawsuits.
Miller in 2018 won the final two years of Spranger’s four-year term and this November will face Republican Anthony Forlini, the district director for U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, for a four-year term.
Spranger has been free on a personal bond.