Jerry Bell pleads to misdemeanors to resolve case involving Macomb County commissioner
Outcome is identical to result of prior case involving the former couple
Bell will be ordered to serve five years probation at his Jan. 11 sentencing under a sentencing agreement between his attorney, Craig Tank, and Judge Kathryn Viviano.
A former candidate for office from Warren charged with carjacking and other felonies for his actions toward a Macomb County commissioner has pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was expected to be released from jail Wednesday afternoon.
Jerry Bell, 48, on Wednesday morning pleaded guilty to stalking and domestic violence, second offense, in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens for his behavior last Dec. 27 involving county Commission Michelle Nard of Warren. Both charges are misdemeanors punishable by up to one year in jail.
Bell appeared calm and spoke very little during the proceeding.
Bell will be ordered to serve five years probation at his Jan. 11 sentencing under a sentencing agreement between his attorney, Craig Tank, and Judge Kathryn Viviano. His $500,000 bond was converted by Viviano into a personal bond, paving the way for him to be freed from the county jail later in the day under conditions and monitored by a tether. He has been behind bars for nearly 11 months.
Under the plea deal, charges of carjacking, unlawful imprisonment, aggravated stalking and felonious assault will be dismissed at the sentencing.
Genesee County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Janetsky, whose office was assigned the case due to Nard’s occupation, told Viviano the commissioner agreed with the outcome.
“She specifically chose this resolution,” Janetsky said.
Nard, who was in a romantic relationship with Bell, said after the hearing she is satisfied with the disposition “as long as he leaves me alone, is on a tether and is monitored.”
She believes Bell should get treatment for a mental issue, she said, adding he was suffering from a mental breakdown during the incident while saying she is concerned for her and her family’s safety.
“I don’t want to sound vindictive,” she said. “I’m not angry. I do forgive him. I think he needs more than jail. He needs to address his mental issue. I want him to get help for himself. I hope he goes on and accepts grace and extends grace. I’m moving on with my life.”
The resolution is the identical outcome of a prior criminal case involving the two. Nard accused him of actions in September 2021 that resulted in him being charged with criminal sexual conduct, extortion, assault by strangulation, felonious assault and kidnapping. That case was resolved in November 2021 with guilty pleas to misdemeanor stalking and domestic violence. Bell received five years probation and was required to complete 52 weeks of batterers intervention counseling, the same program Viviano will require in the new case.
Weeks later, Nard alleged Bell forced her to go shopping at several stores Dec. 27, 2021, displaying a knife to her while she was driving. She went inside the Shoe Rack Outlet on Gratiot Avenue, and police were called. Nard at the time had a Personal Protection Order against him, according to Tank.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Bell agreed with Tank’s recounting of the incident that the pair got into a “dispute.”
“As a result of that dispute, if I’m not mistaken, you grabbed her (Nard’s) around her arm at some point in time,” Tank said to Bell. “And she didn’t give you consent to do that, grab her and then push her away. And you did all those things.”
“Yes,” Bell replied.
Bell on Dec. 29, 2021, released a Facebook live video denying the allegations, claiming Nard, whose mother had just died, asked him to drive her on errands, saying he was “trying to be supportive to her during a time I thought she needed it.”
He said everything seemed fine until they made their last stop at the Shoe Rack Outlet, where Nard entered the store and asked a clerk to call police. Nard told Bell she didn’t want to get into the car with him, and he drove her car home and said he informed her how she could retrieve her vehicle, he said.
But Nard said the incident began when Bell walked to her house to pick up some of his items in her garage and asked her to drive him and the items to his residence. In the vehicle, she said he “was saying a lot of crazy things,” slapped her and displayed a knife. Nard was on the telephone with Bell’s family, who pleaded with him to let her go, she said.
She believes Bell’s mental state was affected by his job of picking up bodies for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Bell and Nard once ran against each other for the Warren City Council, and Bell has been involved in city politics.
Bell, who has supported Mayor James Fouts, in 2021 filed an assault complaint against Joel Vanderlinden, a former city of Warren employee and Fouts adversary for telling him “I’m going to take you out,” during the audience participation portion of a July 2021 council meeting. The comment was in response to Bell, who was seated in the audience, telling Vanderlinden to “sit down” and “stop” after Vanderlinden had been warned about the time limit for speakers.
The charge was later dropped by city prosecutors.
Nard was re-elected Nov. 8 to a second two-year term on the county board.
In the current case, Bell also will be required to wear a tether for one year, have no contact with Nard and engage in no stalking behavior, as part of the sentence, Viviano said.
If Viviano nixes the sentencing deal on Jan. 11, Bell and/or the assistant prosecutor can withdraw their endorsement.