A Detroit inmate already serving decades for multiple homicides is now facing even more prison time after corrections officers found a contraband cellphone in his cell. That discovery set off a wider search that prosecutors say turned up written materials tied to what they allege were bogus affidavits other prisoners hoped to use in court. The new sentence was handed down yesterday.
According to ClickOnDetroit, 45-year-old Vincent Smothers was sentenced yesterday to 14 to 58 months after pleading no contest to one count of possessing a cell phone in a correctional facility. Court records cited by the outlet show Smothers had already pleaded no contest to an obstruction-of-justice charge in December 2025 and was sentenced in February to 1 to 40 years for providing a false affidavit to a court.
A press release from the Michigan Attorney General’s Office states that a contraband phone was found in Smothers’ possession in May 2025. Investigators then searched his cell and seized written communications that became the basis for the later obstruction charges. The office announced felony charges connected to those discoveries in August 2025 and described the case as an ongoing investigation…