Former officer sentenced to house arrest

By Charles Sercombe
A former Hamtramck police officer convicted of bribery won’t be serving time in prison.
Recently, a federal court sentenced Mike Stout, 62, of St. Clair Shores, to be confined to one year of house arrest.
Stout had been convicted of receiving over $9,000 in bribes, which included cash and a car, from a towing company in exchange for privileged police information.
Stout faced up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. He was part of a controversial joint task force with Highland Park to investigate auto thefts. That unit was eventually dissolved.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of nearly two years in prison.
Assistant U.S. attorney Steven Cares told the court that, “Like all police officers, Michael Stout took an oath to protect and serve the citizens of Hamtramck. But he let greed get in the way.”
Stout left the department in 2019, and was stripped of his police powers and also decertified as a police officer.
When he left the department, he said he was taking a job with Highland Park’s police department, which never happened. After he left Hamtramck, Stout was still dealing with a tow company, apparently under the guise that he was an officer.
Stout was able to get information through the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) from an unnamed employee in the Hamtramck Police Department.
Sharing LEIN information with an unauthorized person is illegal.
Unbeknownst to Stout, he was dealing with an FBI undercover agent who was part of a sting operation.
This wasn’t the first time Stout has come under scrutiny. He and other law enforcement officers were named in prior lawsuits for their handling of past investigations that ended up costing Hamtramck over $1 million in damages, some of which had to be covered by insurance.
Stout’s case was the latest of several instances of former Hamtramck officers getting in trouble with the law while performing their duties.
Posted March 15, 2024