LANSING — Former state Sen. Virgil Smith, who was jailed for shooting at his ex-wife's car over a decade ago, has had his felony record expunged under a state law, he said in a news release.
Smith, a Democrat from Detroit, was sentenced to 10 months in the Wayne County Jail in 2016 after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of malicious destruction of property and admitted to firing shots at his ex-wife's Mercedez-Benz parked outside his Detroit home in May 2015. The violence erupted after Smith’s ex-wife went to his home and found another woman in his bed, according to earlier court testimony.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Charise Anderson granted expungement of Smith's felony conviction on Oct. 2, Smith said in a news release.
Smith's misdemeanor
conviction for reckless dischargement of a firearm was expunged last year, the news release said.
"I’ve been working really hard to get here one day at a time," Smith said in the news release, in which he thanked his attorneys for their work on his case.
"I continue to work to be a positive voice for young Black males and I strive to continue to be a positive voice for my community.”
Smith, now 46, was elected to the Senate in 2010 after serving in the state House from 2003 through 2008. He resigned from the Senate effective April 12, 2016. He is the son of the late Virgil C. Smith, a former state senator and judge who died in 2025.
Smith said Oct. 5 that he is working as a contractor as a project consultant in the Wayne County Clerk's Office.
Under Michigan's "Clean Slate" laws, those convicted of certain crimes in Michigan can apply to have their records expunged, while certain other crimes — both misdemeanors and felonies — can be expunged automatically. The ability to apply for expungement of certain crimes began in 2020, while automatic expungements for certain crimes began in 2023.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Sen. Virgil Smith gets expungement for 2015 domestic incident
