Court rejects former Detroit Riverfront Conservancy CFO's appeal for resentencing in embezzlement case
A federal court of appeals has denied former Detroit Riverfront Conservancy CFO William Smith's appeal for resentencing after he pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $40 million from the nonprofit.
In a court ruling filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Sixth District, a three-judge panel determined that Smith waived "any right he may have to appeal his sentence on any grounds" if his "sentence of imprisonment does not exceed the midpoint of the guideline range determined by the Court or 235 months, whichever is greater."
Smith, 53, was sentenced in April 2025 to 19 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Smith pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Smith served as the nonprofit's CFO from 2011 until he was fired in May 2024 amid an FBI investigation.
As part of his plea agreement, Smith admitted to embezzling millions from the Conservancy from November 2012 until May 2024. Between February 2013 and May 2024, Smith moved $24.4 million in Conservancy funds from the organization's bank accounts to the bank account of "The Joseph Group," a company Smith owned.
Federal prosecutors said Smith used the money "to live a deeply immoderate lifestyle," including purchasing real estate, clothes, jewelry, and a 35-foot boat and leasing a $200,000 Mercedes-Benz. Court records show that Smith wire-transferred some of the money into multiple accounts he owned.
The money funded multiple trips, including a yacht for a Mediterranean cruise and a private jet to travel to Las Vegas, prosecutors said. Smith also leased a Maserati for a woman he was romantically involved with and sent her $3.7 million; he also attended a Detroit Lions game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, renting a private suite for $29,000, according to court documents.
As part of his appeal, Smith argued that the district court imposed his sentence "arbitrarily" and that the court should not have applied both "sophisticated-means and sophisticated-laundering enhancements when calculating his offense level." The court determined Smith did not "attack the validity of the appellate-waiver provision" in his plea deal and that the argument he raised on appeal "fell within the scope of the waiver."
In addition to his prison sentence, Smith agreed to pay at least $44.3 million in restitution as part of his plea agreement.
Smith is currently serving his prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan. His earliest release is June 2041.
