By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


Sentencing was handed down today to an Iosco Township man who entered a plea to charges filed after an altercation last year in which authorities say he fired a gun multiple times.

32-year-old Michael Joseph Libtow pleaded guilty last month to six felony accounts including felonious assault, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, and felony firearms.

The charges were filed after the incident on May 16th of 2020 in which Livingston County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Countryway Market in Handy Township for a report of shots fired. An investigation determined that a teen riding motorcycles with friends got into a verbal altercation with Libtow, who was his neighbor. Witnesses claimed that as the teen was leaving the area, Libtow blocked the roadway with his vehicle, got out, and fired multiple rounds from a handgun into the vehicle of the victim.

In court today, the teen victim addressed the court and said he still struggled with the trauma he suffered that day and found himself continually thinking about what happened, which affected his school work and peace of mind. He asked that Libtow receive the maximum sentence so that he could begin to move forward with his life.

Libtow then spoke, telling Circuit Court Judge Michael Hatty that he was “truly sorry” for what had happened and that his three combat deployments in the military had affected his behavior.

Judge Hatty said while Libtow’s military service was an “honorable thing,” the victims were entitled to justice and Libtow had to be held to account for his actions. He then sentenced Libtow to a mandatory two-year sentence in the Michigan Department of Corrections for felony firearms, followed by a year in the Livingston County Jail. Libtow must also serve five years of probation.

At the conclusion, Libtow was placed into handcuffs and escorted out of the courtroom.