Christopher Haxel

Lansing State Journal

LANSING - Former Lansing City Council President and current mayoral candidate Harold Leeman Jr. was ordered today to stand trial on a felony embezzlement charge.

Officials say Leeman failed to turn in proceeds from a concession stand at Lansing's Gier Park and reimbursed himself for too much gas.

In 54A District Court, Judge Louise Alderson bound Leeman over on one count of felony embezzlement between $1,000 and $19,999. If convicted, he faces up to 5 years in prison.

Leeman, 59, has acknowledged that he owed the Gier Community Center board, of which he was a member, $1,109.

Emily Stevens, who oversees Lansing's community centers, testified that a board member had "private conversations with Harold to give him time to make it right" before removing him from the board.

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She said he failed to turn in money from February to July of last year, and didn't make any effort to pay it back until January, when he tried to give her a $200 check that was post-dated for a few weeks later.

After the hearing, Leeman said he thinks "certain people are making a mountain out of a molehill."

"It's sad that it's gone this far," he said. "I was stunned when they didn't want to cash (the check)."

Despite the impending felony charge, Leeman said he still plans to stay in the Lansing mayoral race.

Three other candidates, state Rep. Andy Schor, D-Lansing, current At-Large City Council member Judi Brown Clarke and Danny Anthony Trevino have also filed to run for mayor. Three or more candidates in the race will force an August primary election. The filing deadline is April 25.

Leeman was a city council member for 12 years, from 1996 to 2007. He has run unsuccessfully for city council or mayor in recent years.

Contact Christopher Haxel at 517-377-1261 or chaxel@lsj.com.