Jillian Kerry, Candidate for Supervisor in Scio, Faces Felony Charges for “Bunch of Silliness”

8/2/2024: This article has been corrected.

by P.D. Lesko

Fifty-seven year old Scio Twp. Trustee Jillian Kerry is once again running to be the next Supervisor of the Township. In 2020, Kerry ran against incumbent (now outgoing) Supervisor Will Hathaway and captured 44 percent of the vote. Thanks to a criminal complaint filed against her in Nov. 2023 by Hathaway, Jillian Kerry is not only fighting for her political life this election cycle, she faces felony charges brought by the County Prosecutor just in time for the August 2024 primary, and is now fighting for her liberty. She stands charged with Computers – Using to Commit a Crime, punishable by 2-4 years in prison, and a fine of $5,000 and Interfering With Electronic Communications, punishable by 2 years in prison and/or a $1,000 fine.

A criminal complaint submitted by Scio Supervisor Will Hathaway in Nov. 2023, and obtained from the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, charges Kerry with multiple felonies. If convicted, she faces fines and prison. Will Hathaway alleges Jillian Kerry gained access to his Outlook.com email account on the Township’s shared laptop computer and forwarded a previously sent email to Scio Twp. Clerk Jessica Flintoft and an email invite.

The Sheriff’s report quotes Det. Kevin Parviz, the Sheriff’s IT expert, as saying, “Criminal actions had been taken [by Kerry]. If someone intentionally sent an email using someone else’s account, it could constitute ‘eves- dropping’ under federal law and may be applicable on the state side as well.”

In a phone interview, Hathaway says he used an Outlook email account on Scio Twp.’s one shared laptop computer. He confirms he logged into his Outlook Mail and “must have never logged out” of his account. Hathaway says he doesn’t exactly remember, because he only used the shared laptop “two or three times that year (2023).” Hathaway, likewise, was unable to explain how he went about logging in to his Outlook.com email on the shared laptop, or on his desktop computer.

In an email, Hathaway sent what he called an “enemies list” compiled by Jillian Kerry. Hathaway alleges Kerry asked Scio Twp. Assessor Andrea Garrett to investigate the property tax assessments of 29 parcels belonging to individuals whom Kerry alleged in a Township meeting, were “close to the previous Assessor.” In Kerry’s original email listing the parcel numbers (which she looked up by name) she wrote, “My understanding is that Scio has not assessed parcels at what they should have been for years.” In the same email, she identified a poverty exemption awarded to a resident who had sold his house and moved to “the Carolina’s.”

Kerry’s alleged “hit list” included the property of local real estate appraiser Larry Merte. Merte is the brother of former Scio Assessor, Terri Merte. She is presently a candidate for Scio Twp. Clerk. The list also includes the property of James Dries. Jim Dries is a former Scio Trustee leading the group Fix Scio, which has targeted Kerry’s candidacy. Kerry’s list also included the Hathaway Family LLC (a rental property owned by the Hathaway family) and the property of Will and Paula Hathaway.

In total, Kerry’s alleged “hit list” asked to have 14-year tax histories prepared for properties owned by five former trustees, as well as several individuals who had served on Scio Township Boards and Commissions. In an email on May 16, 2024 to the Township Assessor, Kerry asks to have the 29 14-year tax histories prepared “no later than next Friday.”

On the one hand, Hathaway’s so-called “hit list” could be evidence of Kerry abusing her elected office. Kerry’s property list targeted her neighbors Joseph and Jacqueline Grammatico. On the other hand, the inclusion of former township trustees, a local developer and former members of powerful township committees (i.e. Planning Commission), and the property of Jack and Monica Knowles (Jack Knowles is a former Township Supervisor) and Will Hathaway, could be evidence of investigating a long-time property tax fixing scheme.

Presently, Kerry’s legal fate hinges on whether Judge Cedric Simpson can be convinced an email client (Outlook com) automatically sent an email and a meeting invite. Prosecutor Eli Savit will try to convince Judge Simpson that Kerry sent the email and invite, using the email account of Supervisor Will Hathaway from his email address whathaway@sciotownship.org on Nov. 15, 2023.

It took Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit almost eight months to decide to authorize charges against Kerry and to obtain warrants for her arrest.

Will Hathaway said in an interview he can’t explain how the email and invite were sent from his Outlook.com email account on Nov. 15, 2023. One fact is clear: Hathaway installed the Outlook.com email client (as opposed to using the web-based Outlook.com email client) on a shared Dell laptop computer owned by the Township. That shared laptop is used by Township staff and various elected officials. Hathaway also left his email account logged in on the shared laptop.

Another fact is clear: Chris Bailey, the Scio Twp. IT Dir., was responsible for the security of Township’s shared Dell laptop on which Hathaway (absent Bailey’s knowledge, said Hathaway) installed his personal Outlook.com email account, logged into the account and left the account logged in for anyone to see. When asked why Chris Bailey wasn’t fired since a trustee had been charged with felonies for having allegedly “hacked,” the Township’s one, shared laptop computer, Hathaway offered excuses that included the fact that Bailey was new to the job in Nov. 2023, and that Bailey had a heavy workload.

Jillian Kerry declined to be interviewed. In a public statement, she says the email and a Google invite were sent from a computer owned by Scio Twp., and shared by multiple officials and employees. Kerry alleges she did not send the email and invite, but rather the Outlook.com email client installed on the shared computer did the sending, automatically, when she logged on to the computer to use it for a Township Zoom meeting on the evening of Nov. 15, 2023.

Yet, investigations by the Sheriff’s Office and the Prosecuting attorney, including a forensic examination of the shared laptop, seemingly did not reach that conclusion.

The charges and the Prosecutor’s decision to spend taxpayer money to levy felony charges against Jillian Kerry just as she is running for elected office, become difficult to explain in light of a Jan. 31, 2024 email in which Will Hathaway apologized to recipients of one of his emails that had, “sent itself again.” No mention of this email is included in the documents released to The Ann Arbor Independent along with a copy of the original complaint made by Hathaway.

During a conversation in which Hathaway purported to be unaware that he could ask the charges against Kerry be withdrawn, he made no mention of the Jan. 31, 2024 email that “sent itself again.”

Kerry’s lawyer sent The A2Indy the Jan. 31, 2024 email which he believes exculpates his client and explains what happened to Jillian Kerry on Nov. 15, 2023. Hathaway’s Outlook email opened when Kerry started the shared laptop in order to log in to a different township email account to find a Zoom two-factor identification code. Kerry was there to chair a Zoom meeting of the Road Advisory Committee.

On Jan. 31, 2024 (just two months after Hathaway filed charges against Kerry), he sent an email to the members of the Scio Twp. Transit Advisory Committee in which he wrote:

“Sorry. This email seems to have sent itself again when I logged on just now.”

It’s not known whether the email had been sent from Hathaway’s desktop (web-based) Outlook.com email client, his personal computer, which he said he uses for Township business, including email, or from the Township’s shared Dell laptop’s Outlook.com email client which Hathaway had installed.

Hathaway’s Jan. 31, 2024 email was forwarded to Jillian Kerry on Feb. 2, 2024 by Kristy Aiken, a Twp. Officer Coordinator.

When asked about the Jan. 31, 2024 email in which he says his email “sent itself again when I logged on,” Hathaway did not respond.

The timing of the Prosecutor’s decision to authorize charges couldn’t be worse for Kerry, or better for Hathaway (who said in an interview that Kerry is not the best candidate to be the next Supervisor) and Kerry’s opponent John Boyle. Boyle’s campaign website says he’s a long-time consultant who owns J.L. Boyle International (JLBI). State Business Entity records show John L. Boyle II owns J.L. Boyle & Company, Inc. JLBI is not a business registered in his name, and J.L. Boyle International isn’t a registered business entity in Michigan.

Vice Chair of the Scio Twp. Road Advisory Committee Ian Hubert told Sheriff’s deputies he had a theory about how the email and invite were sent, and said as much in a Nov. 16, 2023 email to Will Hathaway and Jillian Kerry one day after the Nov. 15, 2023 incident. Hubert, in his email to Hathaway and Kerry wrote, “There is Outlook and Outlook.” Hubert went on to explain that Hathaway had installed the Outlook.com email client onto a shared laptop and left his account logged in, instead of using the web-based Outlook.com email client which should have been configured to log out users. Hubert offered to spend his lunch hour to help IT Dir. Chris Bailey secure the Township’s only shared laptop computer.

Hubert was questioned by the Sheriff’s detective assigned to the case and admitted to the detective to seeing the contents of Hathaway’s email account while trying to help Kerry; he was not charged. Hubert admitted to logging into Kerry’s email account using his own laptop to fetch the Zoom two-factor authentication code so she could start the Zoom meeting on Nov. 15, 2023.

N1Discovery, a digital forensics company in Troy, MI, conducted a review of the incident at the request of Township officials. The results of that review are disturbing: The report’s summary of findings said it is “undetermined” how the meeting invite was sent and “undetermined” how the email was sent.

The N1Discovery investigation results suggest Jillian Kerry never should have been charged by the County Sheriff or prosecuted by the County Prosecutor.

Former Ward 2 Ann Arbor City Council member Kathy Griswold worked as an executive in computer security for many years. Griswold said, “This is just a bunch of silliness. There is not justification for this case. You can’t ‘hack’ an account that hasn’t been logged out of. This happened in November 2023, so why is the Prosecutor doing this around the primary? If you listen to what the Scio IT Dir. said, there is no case. This is a waste of taxpayer money.”

Jillian Kerry’s attorney, R. Michael Bullotta, is a former Asst. U.S. Prosecutor in Los Angeles and Detroit. Bullotta was part of the team that prosecuted Kwame Kilpatrick in a trial that resulted in a 28-year prison sentence for the former Detroit Mayor. Bullotta views Kerry’s prosecution as a violation of her civil rights. He said in a phone call that he expects the charges against her are headed toward dismissal at an August 22, 2024 probable cause hearing before Judge Cedric J. Simpson in the 14-A District Court. At that hearing, Judge Simpson will determine whether there is probable cause to have Kerry bound over to the Washtenaw County Circuit Court for prosecution.

In response to a question about why he had filed charges, Hathaway said in an email: “After talking with Chris (Scio’s IT director) and others, I decided to report the incident to the Sheriff. Nobody urged me to do so. I did however confirm with Township Manager Joyce Parker that it was my decision whether to approach the Sheriff. Here are my notes on my initial meeting with the Sheriff Office:

‘I met with Deputy Phillips at the Washtenaw County Sheriff Zeeb Road Station to file a report. I explained that I was not seeking to bring criminal charges, but that it was important to 1) have a record of what had occurred, and 2) understand what had happened so that the Township could respond in an informed manner. I provided Deputy Phillips with hard copies of the email forwarded from my email account on 11/15 (and then forwarded again by Jessica Flintoft) and the subsequent email from Ian Hubert on 11/16.  At approximately 4:45p I informed Joyce that I had filed a report with the Sheriff.'”

On August 6, 2024, the approximately 17,500 residents of Scio Twp. will choose between two candidates who are vying to replace Hathaway: Jillian Kerry, a current Scio Twp. Trustee, and John Boyle.