LANSING, Mich. — Sandra Baxter, a longtime Republican political fundraiser, pleaded guilty Tuesday to misleading law enforcement officials in March 2023 as they probed the flow of money from nonprofit organizations to the Unlock Michigan petition campaign.

Baxter signed a plea agreement with Attorney General Dana Nessel's office and acknowledged, during a hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court, that she had provided investigators misleading information.

In February 2024, Nessel's office originally charged Baxter, a former finance director for the Michigan GOP, with perjury, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 15 years behind bars. As part of the plea deal, Baxter accepted a different, lesser misdemeanor charge of making a false or misleading statement regarding a material fact in a criminal investigation.

The misdemeanor can result in up to one year in jail or a fine of up to $2,500. In court Tuesday, Stine Grand, an assistant attorney general, said prosecutors won't seek upfront jail time for Baxter.

Judge James Jamo will set Baxter's sentence on Aug. 13.

Baxter's agreement means there will likely be no trial in her case and represented the first guilty plea or verdict secured by Nessel's team amid a wave of allegations against Republican former officeholders and consultants tied to investigations into the alleged misuse of political money in Lansing.

Charges against former House Speaker Lee Chatfield of Levering and his top political aides, Anne and Robert Minard, are expected to proceed to trial later this year.

Nessel's office charged Baxter of Caledonia and fellow political fundraiser Heather Lombardini of Okemos with providing false information to investigators about an alleged effort to hide donors' names by moving more than $2 million from nonprofit organizations that didn't have to disclose their contributors to the Unlock Michigan campaign in 2020.

Unlock Michigan, championed by then-Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, sought to reduce Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under oath, during an interview on March 10, 2023, Baxter told investigators that she didn't have a working relationship with Shirkey and didn't have direct contact with Shirkey about helping with donations for Unlock Michigan, according to the Attorney General's office.

But the Attorney General's office obtained emails that showed Baxter was involved in fundraising for Unlock Michigan, including a memo she sent Shirkey on her thoughts about how to approach fundraising for the campaign, according to an affidavit.

"Other emails show Baxter, Lombardini and Shirkey discussing calls Baxter was making to donors for Shirkey and donor checks for Unlock Michigan being sent to the undisclosed accounts," an affidavit from the Attorney General's office said.

In court on Tuesday, Baxter was asked by Jamo if she was pleading guilty because she committed the misdemeanor charge against her.

"Sure," Baxter replied.

At another point, her defense attorney, Michael Anderson, asked Baxter specifically if she had knowingly made a misleading statement to an investigator, Baxter responded: "Yes."

Baxter is the owner of a business called TopFundraising.com. Last year, Republican former Attorney General Bill Schuette told The Detroit News he had known Baxter for more than 35 years.

Lombardini's charges remain pending in Ingham County Circuit Court, where a judge is weighing whether the accusations should proceed to trial.

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