Former Oxford Police Chief Gary Ford pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty in Oakland County Circuit Court Monday morning before Judge Patrick J. Brennan.
Ford will be sentenced on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. and could face up to one year in the Oakland County Jail.
In exchange for the no-contest plea to the misdemeanor, the prosecution dropped the felony charge of misconduct in office.
Both charges stem from a Jan. 5, 1999 incident in which then-Chief Ford influenced a police officer under his command to not arrest a suspected drunken driver and instead, drive him home.
Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton said the conviction is a “reflection on how (Ford) was running the department.”
“It shows he interfered with an officer in the performance of their duty,” Walton said.
Whether Ford will serve any jail time “depends on the recommendation from the probation department,” Walton said.
However, the prosecutor noted that Ford has no prior convictions and the crime he pleaded to was not of a violent nature.
A jury acquitted Ford in May 2003 of two felony counts of larceny by conversion involving two $1,000 donation checks intended for a golf outing that never happened.