On April 20, 2017, Michael Wilson, 39, was sentenced to 12 years state prison after pleading no contest to three counts of presenting false evidence to a judge.
In 2013, Mr. Wilson had a restraining order filed against him by his ex-fiancé. Part of the order included supervised visitation for Mr. Wilson’s son. The order was fiercely contested by Mr. Wilson, and the case dragged out for multiple years. While the case was pending in family court, Mr. Wilson forged multiple documents that he presented to judges. The fake documents included multiple reports from a private investigator and a letter from Child Protective Services. Each forged document attempted to paint Mr. Wilson as a loving and doting father who would never abuse his ex-fiancé or their son. The documents also portrayed his ex-fiancé as an aggressive person who abused him.
When his family law case wasn’t going his way, Mr. Wilson forged multiple additional documents in an attempt to remove his ex-fiancé’s attorney from the case. Mr. Wilson forged a letter from the presiding judge in El Dorado County as well as a minute order supposedly from a retired judge. Each of these documents stated that the attorney had committed misconduct that, if true, could have resulted in the attorney being removed from the practice of law. The documents were submitted to the Placerville Police Department by Mr. Wilson.
When that didn’t work, Mr. Wilson forged additional documents and submitted them to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office for investigation into criminal charges against his ex-fiancé. These documents were supposedly from a private investigator and accused his ex-fiancé of charges ranging from perjury all the way to kidnapping a child.
Mr. Wilson forged a total of nine documents and submitted them eleven times over the span of a year and a half. Judges, prosecutors, and investigators relied on the fake information provided by Mr. Wilson in coming to important decisions regarding civil and criminal charges. Fortunately, the documents were proven to be false before any negative consequences resulted from their admission.
The case was investigated by Ryan Andelin with the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Brett Swenson.
District Attorney Vern Pierson stated, “This case represents a complete manipulation of our entire system of justice. Judges are put in a position where they have to rely on the information that’s presented to them in court. When that information proves to be false, it can have dire consequences for the individuals involved in that case as well as for the community at large.”
PHOTO – MICHAEL WILSON