MI school board member pleads guilty to malicious use of telecommunication services

By STEPHEN BOROWY

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    DAVISON TOWNSHIP, Michigan (WNEM) — A Davison school board member has pleaded guilty to his charge in a threatening phone call incident.

Matthew Smith is charged with one count of malicious use of telecommunication services. He pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal during his final pre-trial hearing on Nov. 22.

Jennifer Kelly, a Houghton County clerk, claimed she received a threatening phone call from Smith in March 2020 and threatened to kill her dogs.

In court, Smith admitted to calling Kelly on March 6, 2020 at 1 a.m., but said it was to annoy her.

“I was trying to help a friend who was running for public office against Ms. Kelly. My actions were totally inappropriate, and I sincerely apologize for this call this late at night disturbing the peace,” Smith said.

The Committee for School Board Integrity started a petition to recall and replace Smith on the Davison School Board of Education. The group started collecting signatures last week and has 60 days to collect 3,869 signatures.

The Committee for School Board Integrity issued the following statement after Smith’s plea:

“On June 17th after Matthew Smith was charged with making a threatening phone call to the Houghton County Clerk he said it was a ‘political smear campaign,’ blamed seemingly everyone except himself, and accused his traumatized victim – a single woman living alone – of lying. On Sept 15th, when his last attorney refused to continue representing him, Matthew reiterated that the threatening phone call didn’t happen. On October 4th, when the recall language was approved, Mathew stated in an elections commission hearing in open court that he was not guilty. When Matthew was first contacted by Houghton County detectives, he filed what we now know was a false police report – another crime – claiming someone had “spoofed” his phone.

Today Mathew Smith has plead guilty to the charges against him. This further demonstrates the urgency of returning integrity to the Davison School Board, and preventing a bully who does not respect the law and truth-telling from making decisions that impact our children. It also reinforces the fact that he must be stopped from pursuing his further political ambitions.

We now have an admitted criminal on the Davison School Board. This is unacceptable for our children and we will continue to work through the lawful process of recall and replacement.”

“Just to be clear, I plead to an annoying phone call, not a threatening call to kill her dogs. I have NOT been convicted and I believe there will be no conviction per HYTA in the plea,” Smith said in a statement to TV5.

Smith is also the chair of the Genesee County Republican Party and a former freelance reporter for TV5.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 11, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.

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