News Summary

  • According to a court order filed Wednesday by Kelly Stevens, clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, an appeal motion filed by William Smith, former chief financial officer of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, regarding his 19-year prison sentence was denied. The case involves a scheme to embezzle approximately $40 million.
  • Three circuit judges, in granting prosecutors' motion to dismiss Smith's appeal, noted that Smith, in his plea agreement signed in 2024, had "waived his right to appeal his sentence on any grounds," provided that his prison term "does not exceed the midpoint of the guideline range determined by the court or 235 months, whichever is higher."
  • Stevens stated in the filing that the district court sentenced Smith to 228 months in prison, so the appeal waiver provision barred Smith's appeal.

In-Depth Report

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding public access to the Detroit International Riverfront. Smith first joined the Conservancy in 2006 and held its top financial position starting in 2011 until he was fired in 2024.

In June of that year, federal prosecutors accused the former treasurer of embezzling millions of dollars over 11 years to purchase luxury items, including airline tickets, limousine services, clothing, and jewelry, as CFO Dive reported at the time.

Smith pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan in an April 2025 press release. In addition to the 19-year prison sentence, Smith was ordered to pay approximately $48 million in restitution and to forfeit any "proceeds traceable to his scheme," the U.S. Attorney's Office said at the time.

Smith appealed his sentence last November, with his attorneys arguing in the appeal request that the 19-year term was "substantively unreasonable because it was tied to arbitrary and impermissible considerations."

In the appeal request, Smith's attorneys argued that his sentence was arbitrarily linked to the number of years he worked at the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, with each year of the 19-year prison term corresponding to each year he worked at the nonprofit.

Additionally, the attorneys argued that Smith's sentencing range was increased because the court incorrectly applied multiple sentencing enhancements—one for sophisticated money laundering and another for sophisticated means—and that these enhancements targeted the same conduct, according to the appeal brief.

In the filing denying the appeal on Wednesday, Stevens noted that Smith "does not challenge the validity of the appeal waiver in his plea agreement. And the arguments he raises on appeal all fall within the scope of that waiver."

"We support U.S. District Judge Susan DeClercq's decision to sentence William Smith to 19 years in prison in 2025, and we also support the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit's decision yesterday to deny his appeal," Ryan Sullivan, CEO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, said in an email statement to CFO Dive.

In July 2024, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy also separately filed a lawsuit against Smith, accusing the former treasurer of breaching fiduciary duties and seeking full monetary damages, as CFO Dive previously reported. The Conservancy's lawsuit also named Smith's family members—his mother, wife, and sister—as co-conspirators, claiming they used the illegal proceeds to purchase high-end luxury items, including designer goods, beauty products, and restaurant meals.

"While we cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings, we will continue to make every effort to recover assets stolen from the Conservancy and the broader community that enjoys Detroit's beautiful riverfront," Sullivan said in the email statement.

Smith's attorney, Gerald Evelyn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the denial of the appeal.