MSU employee pleads guilty to disturbing the peace
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A university employee who was arraigned on counts of prostitution, accosting and soliciting pleaded guilty Wednesday in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace.
University interior designer Samuel Eagan, 30, was arrested July 17 by MSU police, charged with prostitution, accosting and soliciting. According to court records, the arresting officer also is the victim of the crime. MSU police declined to comment on the case, as it remains open until sentencing. MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor declined to give a copy of the incident report to The State News, saying the case still is under investigation. The role of the arresting officer was not elaborated on by Taylor.
Under a plea agreement made Wednesday with District Court Judge David Jordon, the charge against Eagan was amended to disturbing the peace.
Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick said Eagan faces a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. The maximum penalty for prostitution, accosting and soliciting is 93 days in jai and a $500 fine, she said.
Although prosecutors do not issue a case unless they believe it can be proved beyond reasonable doubt, some cases, such as Eagan’s, are resolved before trial, McCormick said. Eagan’s prior history, role in the community and job were considered along with the facts of the case in reaching the plea agreement, McCormick said.
“We always take into account someone’s prior history, what they’re doing in the community, job — we take everything into account,” she said.
It is not unusual for an individual to be charged with prostitution, accosting and soliciting, nor is it unusual for that charge to be amended to a charge of disturbing the peace, McCormick said.
Eagan’s attorney, John English, declined to comment on the case “due to the circumstances.”
Eagan said he did not wish to discuss the case until its completion. His sentencing is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. Sept. 2 before Jordon.
Commentary
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Oldest Profession
(07/31/09 12:25am)Report
Dunno what accosting means, but it otherwise sounds like another nonviolent, victimless crime. How many non-violent pot smokers and pushers do we have in prison, huh Jenny Granholm? Why not save tens of millions and put these private citizens back into society.
Bunny
(07/31/09 4:42am)Report
So far the last two weeks have provided my favorite articles, ranging from vandalized tampon machines, an amusing craigslist “encounter”, and male prostitutes…God, I love SN
"Oldest Profession" is out of touch
(07/31/09 10:04am)Report
What exactly does this have to do with Governor Granholm? Though she is Governor, you do understand that the legislature passes law and she signs them, right?
And why does EVERYTHING always have to be political.
“Oldest Profession”, it must be Bush’s fault you are an idiot.
a journalist
(07/31/09 11:06am)Report
They won’t give you incident report….well, um FOIA IT!!!! Duh.
merry coder
(07/31/09 12:15pm)Report
ALEXA! it says jai instead of jail. fixy fixy!
Not a typo
(07/31/09 5:03pm)Report
Merry coder it’s no ta typo. The sentence for gay prostitution is 30 days in Jai… as in Jai Rodriguez from Queer Eye.
How that’s a punishment for gay prostitutes, I’ll never know.
Ian Wright
(07/31/09 11:34pm)Report
As a quick note to the “out of touch” commenter: Everything has a political side, what’s personal is political and vice versa. Most everything can be traced back to a power struggle with certain factions opposed. There is quite possibly a political context to this charge of which we are all unaware.
Bleeding Green
(08/01/09 5:13pm)Report
The political piece yer missing is this is a employee of MSU, truly “fooling” around where he works. So my tuition dollars are going to be spent on time and money to prosecute him. Seems like employees should have to follow a code of conduct,and at least take that behavior into Lansing or Meridian Township and not in EL
Sol Bilderberg
(08/01/09 9:15pm)Report
The charge is disturbing the Peace, right?!?
“Disturbing the peace is typically considered a misdemeanor.”
So why are you making a simple misdemeanor a FRONT PAGE TABLOID HEADLINE? Is he an elected official? Could it be that it was just a simple misunderstanding that got completely out of hand? MSU employees should be paid enough, so that they don’t have to prostitute themselves very often, right?
Apparently, you have already decided the worst possible scenario, without having evidence to support your assertions.
What is taking so long for you to FOIA request the lurid details of the alleged GAY interaction between a Police Officer and the GAY man? Are male Police Officers naturally HOMOPHOBIC? Or are you suggesting that this guy just walked up to the Police Officer and said, “HEY OFFICER, WILL YOU PAY ME FOR SEX?”
What is the MINIMUM penalty for this crime? You got so excited by the thought of prostitution that you NEGLECTED to mention that disturbing the Peace is a Misdemeanor and has a MINIMUM PENALTY.
Seriously, what is the point of this article, if not to completely trash a man, without having the complete story first?
This is some of the worst journalism ever! Get out of the way, National Enquirer, there’s a new Tabloid in town—the State News!
Sol Bilderberg
Some Guy
(08/02/09 2:01pm)Report
“a journalist”: Don’t you remember the last time the State News did a FOIA on something MSU police didn’t want to give up? They spent over $100,000 to find out information they already knew.
Everyone else having the kneejerk reaction, IT’S SUMMER IN EAST LANSING. There’s not much going on since we’re not burning the place down, screaming loudly about tuition yet or complaining about freshmen.
People who think The State News is the NY Times really need to lighten up.
Sol Bilderberg
(08/02/09 2:27pm)Report
RE: SOME GUY
We don’t expect the State News to be the New York Times; we expect the Journalistic Standards to be just as high!
If they don’t have the facts, rather than present a biased, one-sided viewpoint, they should keep to the facts or wait until they have some.
It is a Disurbing the Peace/misdemeanor charge;this we know for sure.
All this sensational innuendo about gay sex and prostitution is completely irrelevant, since those weren’t the ACTUAL CHARGES, right?
Since the State News does not have the police report, then they should stick to the facts that they know. Otherwise, is the State News suggesting that that he is still charged with prostitution?
Could they at least tell us where it happened, so that we can have a vigil or something? We will invite Bruno!
Sol Bilderberg
Student
(08/02/09 4:37pm)Report
The FIOA does not apply to local agencies thus “The State News” cannot use it to gain access to an open criminal case: “The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Title 5 of the United States Code, section 552, generally provides that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information. All agencies of the U.S. Government are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request, except those records that are protected from disclosure pursuant to nine exemptions and three exclusions. The FOIA applies only to federal agencies and does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies. That is from the State department’s website.
Benjamin Campbell
(08/02/09 5:02pm)Report
I’m and confused, where is thread headed to anyway?
Sol Bilderberg
(08/02/09 6:36pm)Report
Your assertion that state and local municipalities do not comply with FOIA is NOT accurate.
I know for a fact that ALL government agencies are supposed to comply with FOIA. Obviously, there are exceptions—like active criminal investigations, top secret military intelligence, et cetera. Both state and city governments comply with FOIA requests.
Where we are going with this thread? We are requesting the State News be more responsible, get the facts straight first, before they completely trash a guy in their newspaper—for a “disturbing the peace” misdemeanor.
Sol Bilderberg
Not your tuition dollars
(08/03/09 1:24am)Report
So my tuition dollars are going to be spent on time and money to prosecute him.
Not true. Contrary to popular belief, MSU doesn’t run our local government, which includes the DA’s office.
Bleh
(08/03/09 1:39am)Report
Re: Student
Good work regarding the Federal FOIA, but most (all?) states, including Michigan, have state FOIAs that apply to public bodies within the state, such as the ELPD. Michigan’s is 1976 P.A. 442, codified as MCL 15.231-46. Have a look at http://legislature.mi.gov .
Sol Bilderberg
(08/08/09 9:30am)Report
Why would a member of the Greater Lansing Gay Men’s Chorus do anything of the sort? Seriously, could this just be one big misunderstanding?
Sol Bilderberg