JACKSON, MI - A state trooper who took a plea deal and confessed to looking the other way when two Border Patrol agents stole goods while executing a search warrant has had his plea deal tossed out.

Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John McBain accepted a motion to withdraw a guilty plea made by Michigan State Trooper Craig Ziecina at his court hearing Jan. 20.

Ziecina, 40, pleaded guilty July 27 to a misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty by a public officer, dropping a count of lying to a peace officer, a high court misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of two years in prison.

His plea deal was suspended after his then attorney, Richard Convertino, failed to appear in court for Ziecina's sentencing hearing Sept. 9.

"I feel he (Convertino) was not as focused as he could have been," McBain said, tossing out the plea deal in the interest of justice. "He was a retained attorney with a good reputation, but he didn't show up to sentencing, we tried to call his office repeatedly, sent texts, and emailed."

McBain added he was also recently made aware Convertino missed a preliminary examination hearing for Ziecina in the Jackson County District Court as well prior to his case coming to circuit court.

At a previous hearing Oct. 21, Convertino apologized for his absence before being removed as Ziecina's attorney.

Ziecina's new attorney, Sean Carroll, immediately filed a motion to withdraw Ziecina's plea deal arguing Ziecina was not fully aware of what was going on in his case.

"There was a breakdown in the relationship," Carroll said. "When they don't communicate, there can be no attorney client privilege."

Ziecina is scheduled to return to McBain's courtroom for a pretrial hearing March 10.

While assigned to the Jackson post and working with the state police First District Homeland Security Team, Ziecina made a traffic stop in December 2014. He and agents Terence Bruce, 44, and Stanley Nicholson, 46, along with multiple other law enforcement officials, then searched two properties using warrants.

Bruce and Nicholson were accused of stealing items for their personal use while they were present during the searches, according to court records. A state police lieutenant earlier said he believes a stool and a barometer or thermometer were taken

Ziecina was aware of this, but when he was originally interviewed, he denied involvement, according to the attorney general's office. During a second interview, he admitted to knowing of the alleged theft and choosing not to say anything about it, the attorney general reported.

A jury earlier found Bruce and Nicholson guilty of misconduct in office and not guilty of larceny from a building. Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson sentenced each of them in December to a year of probation. Both had to pay $1,183 in costs and fines, court records show.

Ziecina has been suspended without pay since the charges were filed in January 2015.