Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Suzanne Geddis on Thursday sentenced 36-year-old Albert Monteza Smith IV to up to 25 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections.

The sentence stems from a guilty verdict handed down by a jury earlier this month which found him guilty of seven felony charges. Those included carjacking, fleeing a police officer, assaulting/resisting/obstructing an officer causing injury, resisting/obstructing a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, attempting to disarm a police officer and attempted unlawful driving away of a motor vehicle. During his trial the defense argued Smith suffers from PTSD following three years in the U.S. Army.

The charges are tied to the November 28th incident in which a deputy was dispatched to the area of northbound US-23 near Clyde Road in Hartland Township for a report of a minivan ramming another vehicle. A short time later the deputy spotted the minivan on White Lake Road and attempted to stop the vehicle. However, the driver, later identified as Smith, fled eastbound on White Lake Road to try and elude the deputy, but then ran off the roadway, drove through several yards and mailboxes, before striking a DTE power pole and overturning in the front yard of a residence near Carmer Road.

Smith resisted the deputy’s attempts to arrest him, including using a Taser to no effect, but was finally taken into custody. The Livingston County deputy was Mike Mueller, who was elected in November to the state House representing portions of Genesee and Oakland counties. (DK)