Former Macomb County prosecutor released from prison to 'confinement'

Former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith, currently serving a 21-month prison sentence for pushing subordinates to lie to authorities to cover up Smith's fraud schemes, has been released from federal prison to "community confinement," federal prison officials said Tuesday.

Smith had been held at a federal prison in Indiana since late June after being sentenced in a federal court for obstructing justice, admitting he had stolen just under $75,000 from his campaign fund during two fraud schemes spanning from 2012 to 2019. He was released Jan. 31.

Smith is now in "community confinement," which is being overseen by the Bureau of Prisons' Detroit Residential Reentry Management, bureau spokesperson Randilee Giamusso told The Detroit News by email Tuesday. Community confinement means the inmate is either confined to his home or is being held at a residential reentry center, or halfway house.

"For safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss any individual inmate's conditions of confinement, including transfers or release plans, nor do we specify an individual's specific location while in community confinement," Giamusso said.

Ex-Macomb County prosecutor sentenced to 21 months in fraud scheme

Smith is set for release on Christmas this year, after which he would be under supervision or parole for a minimum of 18 months.

Smith still faces state charges after an investigation by Michigan State Police found evidence that he had misdirected over $600,000 from drunk driving and drug cases that was meant to be used for law enforcement and used the funds for parties, gifts and other personal uses.

The former prosecutor is scheduled for trial on May 15 on 10 felony charges, including embezzlement, conspiracy to commit forgery, tampering with evidence and conducting criminal enterprises.

Smith resigned in March 2020 after serving as the county prosecutor since 2004 and in the prosecutor's office since 1993. His attorney at the time said the charges were politically motivated.

On the state charges, Smith's defense attorney John Dakmak argued during the preliminary exam "fatal flaws" exist in the state's case, including the lack of a victim. Dakmak said if the misused funds were a criminal enterprise, "it was the worst one ever, because there was no gain. The money was flowing one way. The wrong way. Out the door."

During sentencing in the federal case in February 2022, Smith's defense pushed for home confinement, noting concerns for his health during the COVID-19 pandemic and that he had contracted COVID twice through that time. Dakmak requested that the judge allow home confinement since Smith has ulcerative colitis and Type 1 diabetes, relying on an insulin pump, but the request was denied.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 had started making its way through the United States, making its way to Indiana by mid-December. Many prisons in Michigan during the pandemic have been under full quarantine due to the spread of COVID-19, as infection rates raced above the national average.

anichols@detroitnews.com