MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) - A woman who was swept into a countywide office with the help of President Donald Trump’s popularity has been ordered to repay $1,660 to a woman who was in her care.
Karen Spranger pleaded no contest Wednesday to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Spranger, 68, was accused of stealing money from the bank account of a 78-year-old woman without her permission.
Spranger, running as a Republican in 2016, was elected clerk of Macomb County - the third-largest county in Michigan - despite little name recognition. Macomb voters in that same election also helped Trump win the state after backing Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
But a judge removed Spranger from the $109,000-a-year job in 2018 after she was accused of not living at the address listed on her candidacy documents.
Spranger said she was poor and unemployed when she ran for office but still was able to live at the house, which had no utilities.
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