(WXYZ) — A former Livingston County Judge is now facing jail time after pleading guilty to perjury.
Theresa Brennan will be facing a sentencing guideline of 0-6 months, with a maximum penalty of 15 years.
The guilty plea is in connection with a deposition she gave during her divorce in January of 2017.
Under the deal, charges of tampering with evidence and misconduct in office will be dismissed. She will also have to notify the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission of her criminal conviction, which could lead to her disbarment.
She is due to be sentence on January 17.
Brennan was removed from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court in June.
Her ex-husband, Donald Root, filed for divorce in December of 2016 and his attorney was Tom Kizer. Kizer and Brennan had a history, as Kizer previously filed grievances against her. He would later take her deposition in the divorce, which is where one of the perrjury charges is based.
The divorce case was initially automatically assigned to Judge Brennan as she got all divorce cases without children. But she took several days to disqualify herself.
Kizer had filed a motion to have Brennan's cell phone preserved as it was owned by her husband's businesses. Felicia Milhouse, court reporter to Judge Brennan, testified that Brennan wanted her personal email wiped clean from that iPhone and asked her to do it.
After the phone was turned over and the criminal investigation started, Michigan State Police attempted to extract data from the phone, but an expert testified it had been wiped clean by being reset to factor settings.
