Former county prosecutor Dunnings investigation ongoing

LANSING – The criminal investigation of former Ingham County prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III remains open because law enforcement is still receiving tips, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said Wednesday. 

Dunnings, who was the county's elected prosecutor for nearly 20 years, pleaded guilty last week to misconduct in office, a felony that could land him in prison for five years. He was arrested March 14 after a yearlong investigation involving county, state and federal law enforcement revealed he had paid multiple women for sex over several years and had coerced one woman who was not a prostitute to let him pay her for sex. 

Dunnings pleads guilty to felony charge, Schuette to press for prison

Dunnings, 63, has not yet been sentenced. 

With Dunnings convicted, the State Journal asked the Attorney General's Office to release information on the investigation through the state's Freedom of Information Act. The AG denied that request on Tuesday, citing an ongoing investigation and privacy concerns.  

On Wednesday, AG spokeswoman Megan Hawthorne said in an email to the State Journal that "the case file remains open as we continue to receive tips." Reached by phone, she refused to provide additional information, including when the case might be considered closed.  

Complete coverage: Criminal charges against Stuart Dunnings III

Michigan's open records laws allow government agencies to withhold information if disclosure may hinder an ongoing investigation.   

Dunnings' attorney, Vincent Toussaint, would not comment on Wednesday. 

After the prosecutor's arrest, the AG's office set up a tip line for people to provide more information about the case. In April, Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth told the State Journal that the tip line had yielded some useful leads, though he wouldn't offer specifics.

Wriggelsworth also told the State Journal police knew that Dunnings had used the power of his office to help the women he was paying for sex.  

The State Journal is seeking the investigatory reports in Dunnings' case in an attempt to independently examine any potential affect his admitted crimes may have had on his taxpayer-funded office or the criminal cases it handled. 

Dunnings' admission last week was part of a plea deal that allowed him to admit to a lesser felony — the former prosecutor had faced up to 20 years in prison  — in exchange for most of the charges against him being dropped. The plea agreement does not rule out additional charges being filed in the future. 

But the plea deal also means there will be no potentially revealing testimony in the case. Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a tweet that the plea deal saved the victims in Dunnings' case from being "revictimized" by having to testify in open court. 

Gretchen Whitmer, the former state senator who replaced Dunnings for the final six months of his term, released a report last month that said cases handled by the prosecutor's office were unaffected by Dunning's crimes. But Whitmer said her internal investigation was hampered by a so-called "gag order" preventing the AG's office from releasing information. 

Convict's claims about Dunnings 'meritless,' AG says

Defendants in at least three criminal cases and a civil Michigan's Children's Protective Service case have alleged connections to Dunnings' case. 

Contact Justin A. Hinkley at (517) 377-1195 or jhinkley@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHinkley. Sign up for his email newsletter, SoM Weekly, at on.lsj.com/somsignup.