Smith, 24, is also a member of the Davison, Michigan, school board.
In March 2020, Smith called Houghton County elected clerk Jennifer Kelly, a Democrat, and allegedly threatened her in what Kelly says was an effort to intimidate her out of running for reelection so a friend of his running for her seat could win.
During the call, Kelly said Smith allegedly threatened to poison her dogs, according to MLive.com, an accusation Smith has denied since pleading guilty to malicious use of a phone in November.
Kelly said she initially supported the plea deal but has changed her mind as Smith has downplayed the severity and contents of the call in the nearly two years since the incident.
“He called me to scare me. He succeeded. To live how I have for the past two years has been more than I can tell you, your honor,” Kelly said, according to MLive.com. “I have hid in my own home. I have been afraid to go outside. I have avoided functions. I have feared losing my animals.…What Matt Smith has done to me…has truly changed my life.”
The guilty plea and publicizing of the phone call have led to a censure by Smith’s school board colleagues, preventing him from serving on committees, MLive.com added. A recall effort has also been initiated to remove him from his school board seat.
Judge William Crawford said Smith had “credibility issues” because of how his comments have changed on the call as he went from initially denying the call was made in the first place to admitting he made the call after police connected phone records to the call coming from his phone.
“I apologize for calling Miss Kelly and making a political phone call late at night,” Smith told MLive.com outside court. “You should never make a phone call to someone late at night and spook them or startle them.”
His record eventually will be scrubbed clean if he stays out of trouble.
“It’s time to grow up and be a man,” the judge said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
