State Roundup

Grand Rapids
Settlement made in death of 2 men at a dairy farm
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Documents say there’s a settlement in a federal wrongful death lawsuit by families of two young people who died in 2010 after falling into a tank at a Barry County dairy farm.

The Grand Rapids Press reports an attorney for Yankee Springs Dairy Farm says in a recent filing in U.S. District Court that those involved reached a settlement and were preparing related documents.

The families sued, saying 17-year-old Francisco Martinez and 18-year-old Victor Perez were overcome by fumes emitted by decaying molasses in the tank at the farm. Authorities say they died of asphyxiation after being trapped in the oxygen-depleted environment.

The lawsuit says Martinez and Perez complained to their supervisor about conditions inside the tank at the farm.

Pontiac
Man pleads guilty using religion to pull off scam 
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit man accused of using religion to gain the confidence of people with mortgage problems and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars faces sentencing next month.

The Michigan attorney general’s office says 53-year-old Anthony Carta pleaded guilty Monday to seven felony charges in Circuit Court in Pontiac. The case stemmed from an investigation by Attorney General Bill Schuette’s Corporate Oversight Division.

Charges include conducting a criminal enterprise, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 2.

Schuette’s office says Carta had a company called Freedom By Faith Ministries. He’s accused of pocketing their money but doing nothing to help more than 100 people. Carta has been ordered to pay $586,000 in restitution through the organization and $400,000 in restitution himself.

Waterford
Chief suspended after sign removal
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A township board has announced the departure of the Detroit suburb’s police chief, who was suspended during an investigation of his removal of a political yard sign opposing a police safety millage.

Waterford Township Chief Daniel McCaw says he removed several signs in July outside a vacant gas station. McCaw says the signs violated a local ordinance in the Oakland County community.

The tax request passed.

State police investigated, and Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton declined to file charges.