Timber harvester gets jail time as part of embezzlement plea deal
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A northern Michigan timber harvester has been jailed after taking a plea deal for allegedly embezzling money from his customers.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday that 57-year-old Norman Kasubowski, of Indian River, was sentenced to 45 days in jail this week by an Otsego County judge.
Kasubowski operated two timber harvesting companies in the northern Lower Peninsula and was accused of embezzling more than $20,000 by underreporting the amount of timber he harvested from his customers’ property.
He had previously been bound over for trial on six felony counts of embezzlement. However, Kasubowski took a plea deal with the state, instead pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement and two counts of disorderly conduct. He must also pay full restitution to his six victims.
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“Defrauding Michigan residents out of their assets and on their own land is not a successful business model, it’s a crime,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “My office will continue to hold crooked business agents accountable for unfairly treating their customers and those they contract with.”
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