By Staff
CASSOPOLIS - Marcellus Village President Allen Fisk, 45, of 319 Dibble St., pleaded guilty as charged Friday to larceny by conversion, $1,000 to $20,000, in Cass County Circuit Court.
Alternative counts in both files were dismissed administratively and not as part of an agreement, according to Prosecutor Victor A. Fitz.
Fisk is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 16 at 8:30 a.m.
Fitz said Fisk is also required as part of an agreement to plead guilty to charges in federal court.
The agreement also calls for sentencing in federal court to occur first and for concurrent sentencing on all counts.
Fisk remains in federal custody until sentencing.
In Fourth District Court on Aug. 12, Fisk was charged by the Prosecutor's Office with false pretenses, $200 or more but less than $1,000, from the Marcellus News.
It was charged that Fisk used a Marcellus News bank account to electronically pay his July 2005 home mortgage payment of $925.36.
An alternative count of larceny, $200 or more but less than $1,000, had also been filed in that case.
These misdemeanors were charged with taking place on July 17, 2005, at a time when Fisk was free on bond for the Circuit Court case.
Fisk had been arraigned on these latest charges on Aug. 12 and released on bond.
On April 27, Fisk was charged by Fitz's office with embezzlement of $1,000 to $20,000 from Trinity Bible Church, 397 Elm St., Marcellus.
An alternative count of larceny by conversion, $1,000 to $20,000, was also filed in that case.
These crimes are alleged to have taken place from May 2002 through February 2005.
Fisk had been arraigned on those charges May 2, with bond set at $5,000 cash-surety. A trial had been scheduled for Sept. 13.
On May 17, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan received a grand jury indictment against Fisk for unlawfully devising a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and 10 private taxpayers with money, funds, credits and similar property rights.
A motion to revoke bond in that matter had been granted.