Flint — The former utilities director in Flint has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor in an investigation of the city’s lead-tainted water.
Daugherty Johnson’s deal Tuesday means two felonies will be dropped.
Defense attorney Edwar Zeineh said the misdemeanor also will be erased in the months ahead if Johnson continues to cooperate with the attorney general’s office.
According to the Flint Journal, Johnson pleaded no contest to failing to furnish water documents to a Genesee County Health Department employee investigating a possible connection between Flint water and Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks.
Johnson and Croft recommended a contract in June 2013 to then-Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz that seemingly committed the city to use water from the Flint River, which ended up causing lead contamination and likely the spread of Legionella bacteria.
The switch to Flint River water was primarily done as a money saver.
As a result, corrosive water caused lead to break away in old pipes, contaminating the system.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
Associated Press contributed.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.