FLINT, MI -- Eden Wells, the state's chief medical executive, is accused of lying to investigators about when she first knew of a possible link between Flint River water and a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.

Wells also allegedly threatened to cut funding to a team researching the link, according to documents released by the attorney general's office Wednesday.

Michigan's top doctor is among several high-ranking state officials charged criminally for their roles in the Flint water crisis, including Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon.

Lyon and four others face the most severe charge: involuntary manslaughter, punishable by up 15 years in prison.

While Wells avoided manslaughter charges, she is facing up to five years in prison on an obstruction of justice charge, a felony.

Wells is accused of threatening to withhold funding to the Flint Area Community Health and Environmental Partnership if they didn't stop investigating the fatal Legionnaires' outbreak.

The partnership, formed at the behest of Gov. Rick Snyder's office, is based out of Wayne State University. Members of the research team -- Shawn McElmurry and Dr. Marcus Zervos -- are named in the charging documents and have been subpoenaed to testify in court.

McElmurry will testify that he wrote an email to colleagues in August 2016 informing them that Wells didn't want the research team sampling water filters in Flint, according to the documents.

Then in a February 2017 meeting with Lyon and Wells, McElmurry was told to stop his Legionnaires' research because it "proved problematic," according to the documents.

Zervos will testify that he emailed Wells in March 2017 "regarding her efforts to intimidate and obstruct his investigation," the documents say. Wells was allegedly trying to bury the team's findings and objected to making information from the study public.

Zervos will also testify that Wells threatened the research team's funding and told them to stop studying the Legionnaires outbreak.

MLive reached out to both McElmurry and Zervos Wednesday. Zervos was out of the country. McElmurry didn't respond to a request for an interview.

"We have nothing to add regarding today's developments," Wayne State University spokesman Matthew Lockwood said in a statement. "The (partnership's) research group's focus is - and always has been - on conducting a rigorous scientific study to determine what led to the Legionnaires' disease outbreak, and preventing such a tragedy from ever happening again."

It's not clear if the chief medical officer has the power to cut funding to programs. Wells' job description on the state of Michigan website says she provides "professional medical leadership, expertise and coordination in addressing public health issues, workforce issues and health policy development to the MDHHS."

MDHHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarification about the chief medical officer's role in budget issues.

Wells is also charged with a count of lying to a peace officer who is investigating a crime with a penalty greater than four years, a high court misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison.

Wells told a special agent investigating the water crisis she found out about the Legionnaires' outbreak in September or October 2015. But the attorney general's office has witnesses who will testify Wells knew about the outbreak months earlier, in March 2015.

Wells has not yet been arraigned in district court on the charges. It's not yet known when that will occur.

Those charged with involuntary manslaughter are: Lyon, former emergency manager Darnell Earley, former City of Flint Water Department Manager Howard Croft, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's Drinking Water Chief Liane Shekter-Smith and former DEQ District Supervisor Stephen Busch. They are accused of failing to act during the water crisis, which led to the 2015 death of Robert Skidmore, 85, of Genesee Township.