A law enforcement career spanning 25 years has come to an abrupt end for a Michigan sheriff's deputy who admittedly fabricated the details of an auto accident report in order to collect insurance money.

On Friday, Oct. 11, Steven Thomas Keene pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and an added misdemeanor count of neglect of duty during a hearing before Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Alexander C. Lipsey. The 48-year-old Cass County, Michigan sheriff's deputy and resident of Dowagiac was to stand trial next week on felony insurance fraud charges but instead entered a guilty plea in the case.

The incident involved an accident reportedly caused by a deer. Keene later admitted to lying about the crash in a police report so a friend could collect insurance money for a new car.

Keene's conspiracy charge is considered a felony and is therefore punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Three other charges lodged against him—insurance fraud, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice—are to be dismissed when Keene is sentenced on Nov. 25 by Judge Lipsey.

As part of the plea agreement in the case, Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Kanaby told Lipsey his office will recommend a term of probation for Keene but is nonetheless reserving its right to recommend jail.

Kanaby also said there is a Cobbs agreement between Keene and the court that calls for him to serve no jail time prior to the start of his probation term as long as he complies with his bond conditions and commits no other crimes prior to his sentencing next month.

A Cobbs plea allows for defendants to enter a guilty plea in a case that can later be withdrawn if a judge's sentence falls outside the terms put forth by the judge before a defendant entered their plea.

Keene's case was assigned to Lipsey and the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor's Office because of Keene's employment as a sheriff's deputy in Cass County. He also worked part-time for the police department in Cass County's Silver Creek Township.

Keene's attorney, Michael Hills, said Keene has since retired from the sheriff's office where he worked for 25 years. In pleading guilty to insurance fraud and neglect of duty, Keene admitted to Lipsey that between February and March, while on duty as a police officer, he conspired to defraud an auto insurance carrier by staging a car-deer crash and then filing a false police report of the incident.

Prosecutors said previously that Keene had a friend who “wasn't going to get much in return for the car” she owned, so he and the woman together staged the one-car accident so she could purchase a new car using money from an insurance payout.

Authorities contend the offenses committed by Keene occurred while he was working his part-time job for Silver Creek Township.

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