Ex-State Trooper Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $170K, faces 13 months in jail

ROYAL OAK, MI — A former Michigan State Police trooper from Royal Oak pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $170,000 in salvage vehicle inspection fees. Seth Swanson, 31, was sentenced Tuesday in Oakland County Circuit Court on two felony charges that will land him in jail for 13 months and on probation for about five years.

Swanson was sentenced to one year in county jail as part of five years probation for embezzlement by a public official. He was also sentenced to 12 months probation, with the condition that the first 30 days be served in jail, on Uttering and Publishing. In addition to paying $170,100 in restitution, Swanson is also responsible for court fees and costs.

“Public Officials are entrusted with great responsibility and this former officer took advantage of that for personal financial gain,” Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement. “Today’s sentencing shows even those who are trusted to uphold the law are not above it. I want to once again thank the Michigan State Police and FBI’s Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force for their hard work on this investigation.”

The case arose from a joint investigation by the Michigan State Police, the FBI Detroit-Area Public Corruption Task Force, and the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit. Between August 2014 and December 2015, Swanson falsified Michigan Secretary of State forms required for clean title and personally pocketed the cash fee instead of paying it over to the Michigan State Police.

Michigan law earmarks a portion of this fee to fight auto thefts. Detecting stolen autos and auto parts is one of the purposes of the inspections that then-Trooper Swanson was responsible to do. Swanson conducted 1,701 salvage vehicle inspections over a span of a year and a half, pocketing over $170,000.00, while forging the necessary Secretary of State document for each. The form, once completed and signed by a certified police officer, permitted the holder to obtain a good and valid State of Michigan motor vehicle title for the subject vehicle.

The former State Trooper had been a state-certified salvage vehicle inspector since 2011. Swanson used the fees he pocketed for personal purposes, including paying personal credit card debt, vacations, paying for multiple plastic surgeries, and for home improvements for himself and family.

A salvage title is issued for a vehicle that has become a "distressed vehicle.” A vehicle with a salvage title cannot be plated or used on public roads until it is recertified by a specially trained police officer and retitled.
The MSP and the Secretary of State are working together to ensure all vehicles involved in this case have a proper salvage vehicle inspection. This may involve directly contacting the registered owners of vehicles improperly inspected to arrange for a new inspection. The process of identifying affected vehicles is ongoing.

Photo via Michigan Attorney General's Office