David Coker of Clare, MI: Felony Charges in Earmark Grant Scandal

David Coker Jr., a 52-year-old Clare, Michigan resident and former aide to then-House Speaker Jason Wentworth, has been ordered to stand trial on seven felony and misdemeanor counts for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a $25 million state grant meant to build a community health campus in Clare County. Prosecutors say he routed grant money through a consulting firm he secretly owned and spent it on vehicles, gold and silver bars, rare coins, firearm optics, and land.¹ He has pleaded not guilty.

The Charges He Faces

Coker was arraigned May 14, 2025, in Ingham County’s 54A District Court before Judge Kristen D. Simmons and released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond.² After a two-day preliminary examination, Judge Simmons ruled on May 27, 2026 that probable cause existed and bound the case over to the 30th Circuit Court.³

He faces seven counts:

One count of conducting a criminal enterprise, punishable by up to 20 years.
Three counts of false pretenses of $100,000 or more, each punishable by up to 20 years.
Two counts of embezzlement of $100,000 or more, each punishable by up to 20 years.
One count of misappropriation of public monies, a high misdemeanor carrying up to two years.¹

No trial date has been set. The Attorney General’s office opened the investigation in August 2023 after a referral from the MDHHS Office of Inspector General, prompted by concerns state legislators had raised about the project.¹

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

In June 2022, Coker filed paperwork to create a nonprofit called Complete Health Park to build a large health and recreation complex in Clare County, envisioned to include a pool, fitness areas, athletic courts, a bowling alley, and medical offices.⁴ A grant agreement for the full $25 million was finalized on December 15, 2022, and on January 9, 2023, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services disbursed roughly $9.9 million to Complete Health Park.¹

According to prosecutors, Complete Health Park’s board had contracted with IW Consulting to manage the project at 7% of total project costs, plus $200 per hour for consulting services. What the board and the state allegedly did not know is that Coker owned IW Consulting himself. The state contends he never disclosed that ownership to MDHHS, as the grant agreement required, creating a hidden conflict of interest.⁵

On the same day the $9.9 million landed, Coker allegedly moved $820,632 out of Complete Health Park and into IW Consulting based on two invoices, for $182,200 and $638,432, that he had personally authored and approved.⁶ Prosecutors say the invoices “grossly overstated the value of services rendered” and that the total exceeded the $212,000 annual cap that should have applied to consulting fees under the grant terms.⁷

Prosecutors allege Coker then swept the IW Consulting account into his personal bank accounts. They separately allege that on December 19, 2022, he approved a $150,000 payment from Complete Health Park to the Beta Sole Foundation, an entity controlled by his associate Anthony Demasi, for purported “marketing/website” work.⁸

What Prosecutors Say He Bought

The criminal complaint and reporting on the warrant packet describe a spending pattern that Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has laid out in unusual detail. Alleged purchases with the diverted funds include:

A 2023 Honda ORV, a 2015 Buick Lacrosse, a 2016 Ram 3500, and a 2024 Chevrolet Trax, plus more than $71,000 to pay off existing vehicle loans and about $77,000 spent at a car dealership.⁶
More than 70 gold, silver, and platinum bars, at least 50 rare coins, and what Nessel described as “a few literal silver bullets.”⁹
Sig Sauer firearm accessories, including rifle scopes, a thermal reflex sight, and a battle sight.⁶
Nearly $200,000 in land in Farwell, purchased in April 2023.⁷

Coker’s Defense

Coker’s attorney, Joshua Blanchard, has framed the project as a legitimate attempt to bring health services to a community “poorer and less healthy than the rest of the state,” and has called the prosecution an “unusual theory of fraud.”³ Blanchard has argued that the state’s grant administrator never asked Coker whether he had a conflict of interest, that his ownership of IW Consulting had been a matter of public record in state corporation filings since 2020, and that the Complete Health Park board knew about his role and negotiated his consulting fee down from 8% to 7%. If the payments to IW Consulting were contractually legitimate, Blanchard has argued, the firm could use the funds at its discretion, including to buy property.⁷ He has also suggested Nessel is trying to “criminalize a project approved by her political opponents.”¹⁰

How the Grant Came About

Before his arrest, Coker was a well-known figure in Clare County Republican politics. He had led the Clare County Republican Party and, more recently, the Clare Chamber of Commerce, and had worked as an aide to Jason Wentworth, who later became Speaker of the Michigan House.¹¹

Wentworth, as Speaker, inserted the $25 million community health campus appropriation into the 2022 state budget as a no-bid earmark.¹¹ Separately, State Rep. Tom Kunse’s family sold $3.5 million worth of land to Complete Health Park using grant funds, in a transaction for which no appraisal was conducted.¹²

After a nearly two-year investigation, Nessel announced that neither Wentworth nor Kunse would face charges, saying investigators found “no criminal wrongdoing” by either lawmaker. Both cooperated. Nessel described the optics of Kunse’s land sale as “ethically concerning” but confirmed no laws were broken.¹³ Kunse had actually contacted MDHHS with concerns about the project in early 2023, alongside State Sen. Roger Hauck, which helped prompt the state to pause the grant and open its investigation.¹² Coker remains the only person charged in connection with the Clare health park grant.

What Happened to the Money

The health complex was never built. The state suspended the grant in 2023 after investigators found red flags.⁴ FED Corporation, a Gladwin-based contractor that had received about $5.4 million to develop the complex, returned roughly $4.83 million to the state under an agreement negotiated with MDHHS and the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General’s office has not suggested any wrongdoing by FED Corporation.¹⁴

The Broader Earmark Scandal and Reforms

Coker’s case is one of two criminal prosecutions to emerge from Michigan’s 2022 budget earmarks. The other involves Fay Beydoun, a Metro Detroit businesswoman charged with 16 felonies over the alleged misuse of a separate $20 million state grant meant to fund an international business accelerator; prosecutors allege the money went to a $550,000 salary, a $4,500 coffee maker, and an $11,000 flight to Budapest, among other personal expenses. She has denied the charges.¹⁵

Together the two cases drew attention to how tens of millions in grants had been awarded without competitive bidding in closed-door legislative sessions.³¹⁶¹⁷

1
Michigan Department of Attorney General. Complete Health Park Founder to Stand Trial on Multiple Felonies for Misusing State Grant Funds
2
MIRS News. Former Wentworth Aide Charged With Embezzlement
3
Bridge Michigan. Judge Orders Former Aide to Stand Trial in Michigan Earmark Embezzlement Case
4
Bridge Michigan. Firm Returns $4.8M to Michigan Amid Clare Health Park Embezzlement Case
5
Michigan Department of Attorney General. Complete Health Park Founder Charged With Multiple Felonies for Misusing State Grant Funds
6
Michigan Department of Attorney General. Warrant Packet – Coker (Redacted)
7
Bridge Michigan. Prosecutor: Health Park Founder Enriched Himself With State Grant
8
Bridge Michigan. Records: Firm of Ex-Aide to Michigan Speaker Paid $820K Within Days of Grant
9
Michigan Advance. Former Aide to Michigan’s Ex-House Speaker to Stand Trial on Embezzlement Charges
10
Bridge Michigan. Ex-CFO: I Was Fired After Raising Concerns Over $25M Earmark Project
11
Bridge Michigan. Former Legislative Aide Charged With Embezzlement in $25M Clare Earmark Scandal
12
Our Midland. Kunse, Wentworth Will Not Face Charges in Clare Health Park Probe
13
Detroit News. Former Michigan House Speaker’s Aide Charged With Embezzlement
14
MLive. $4.83M Recovered by State From Unused Clare County Health Park Grant
15
Michigan Advance. Nessel Brings Felony Charges Against Businesswoman Accused of Misusing $20 Million in State Funds
16
Michigan Advance. Whitmer Signs Republican-Led Push for Michigan Earmark Reforms Into Law
17
Michigan House Republicans. House Republicans Accomplish Historic Earmark Reform