65-year-old Sandra Baxter pled guilty to one count of knowingly providing false information to state investigators during a probe into an alleged “dark money scheme” that funded efforts to curb Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s authority during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic in 2020, a group known as Unlock Michigan launched a petition drive aimed at repealing a 1945 law Whitmer leaned on to issue emergency stay-at-home orders.
Baxter was initially charged with perjury in February 2024 after Attorney General Dana Nessel said she lied to investigators about her relationship with the Unlock Michigan initiative and then-Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey.
Under state campaign finance law, the names of individuals who donate to a ballot question must be made public. A 2021 complaint, however, alleged that Unlock Michigan was circumventing that requirement by receiving money through a nonprofit tied to Shirkey - Michigan! My Michigan!.
Initially, Baxter claimed under oath that she did not have a working relationship with Shirkey and did not have any direct contact with him concerning the petition drive.
Baxter could face up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. She is scheduled to be sentenced August 13th.
