April 23, 2025
Conservancy CEO Ryan Sullivan said a maximum sentence will help rebuild faith and community trust.
Leaders from the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy feel the maximum 20-year sentence for former chief financial officer (CFO) William Smith is appropriate for stealing close to $44.3 million during his tenure, The Detroit News reported.
The conservancy’s request was made public in a victim impact statement on April 22 before Smith is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan DeClercq on April 24 for what is being labeled one of the largest and most expensive criminal schemes in the city’s history. Conservancy officials called the ex-CFO scheme “truly evil” and said it diminished the nonprofit’s reputation.
A maximum sentence will help rebuild faith and community trust, officials hope. “We are emerging from this episode with a bright future,” conservancy CEO Ryan Sullivan said in a statement.
“But for today, justice must be done.”
In November 2024, Smith pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, with prosecutors recommending he serve 18 years. Smith’s legal team is seeking a 12 ½ to 15 ½ year sentence. Smith’s prolonged thievery started after being tasked with renovating the Detroit Riverfront in 2012. The scheme carried on into March 2024 — the same time leaders first noticed cash flow issues.
According to Detroit Free Press, in a letter to Judge DeClercq, Conservancy lawyer and former top federal prosecutor Matthew Schneider listed the ways Smith stole from the group. “Smith did not simply steal money from a non-profit; he stole from volunteers and used that money for excess, flamboyance, and greed,” he wrote. Prosecutors backed up that claim revealing that Smith used stolen funds for luxury spending such as $500,000 for floor seats to Pistons games, $3.7 million in wire transfers to a mistress, and close to $200,000 to charter a private jet and yacht.
He also used money to fund a nightclub, Duo Restaurant and Lounge, now shut down, using funds for restaurant supplies, work uniforms, and bulk liquor orders worth thousands of dollars.
In what Schneider calls “the ultimate act of hubris,” Smith donated to GoFundMe campaigns and community causes with conservancy money — including $10,000 to the conservancy for its 2017 Shimmer on the River gala — using an American Express card and later paying it off with a wire transfer from the nonprofit. The former CFO took a step further by sending himself a thank you letter for the donation in order to “claim his payment as a charitable donation on his tax filing,” according to the lawyer.
Included in the letter are comments from anonymous “victims” affiliated with the conservancy including a Black board member who said Smith’s actions could prevent other Black people from succeeding. “I can only begin to tell you the negative impact that has resulted in the Black community,” the statement read.
“Mr. Smith’s actions give those who want to find a reason not to provide equal opportunity an excuse to avoid providing access to executive positions, jobs, contracts.”
In hopes of a lighter sentence, Smith’s legal team is pushing the narrative that he is remorseful and highlighted how he has cooperated with investigators. The accused has agreed to pay at least $44.3 million in restitution, but prosecutors are expecting to recoup as little as $2 million from seized assets.
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