Sandra Baxter Sentenced for Providing False Statement During Unlock Michigan Campaign Finance Investigation

LANSING – Today, Sandra Baxter, 65, of Caledonia, was sentenced to 3 months of reporting probation, 20 hours of community service, and a $2,500.00 fine, the maximum allowed by law, by Judge James Jamo in the 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County for knowingly providing a false statement during the Unlock Michigan campaign finance investigation, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. She pled guilty in June to one count of Knowingly and Willfully Providing a Statement to a Peace Officer that the Person Knows Was False or Misleading Regarding a Material Fact in a Criminal Investigation. Baxter was initially charged in February 2024 with Perjury.   

“For too long, dark money has operated in the shadows of Lansing with little accountability,” Nessel said. “The Unlock Michigan investigation shed light on corruption in campaign finance that was long considered common practice. Fair elections depend on transparency and honesty, and attempts to skirt the system or mislead law enforcement and the people of Michigan will not be tolerated.” 

In May 2021, Robert LaBrant filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of State’s (PDF) office alleging a “dark money scheme” to use Michigan! My Michigan!, a 501(c)(4), to fund the Unlock Michigan ballot question initiative in violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act. The Department of State referred LaBrant’s complaint to the Department of Attorney General on June 3, 2022. 

Baxter, a fundraising consultant soliciting funds for Michigan! My Michigan!, admitted in court that during an examination under oath conducted by a Department of Attorney General investigator on March 10, 2023, she knowingly and willfully made a false or misleading statement regarding a material fact in the Unlock Michigan criminal investigation.