FLINT, MI -- The latest charges against four government employees accused of criminal wrongdoing in the Flint water crisis has taken prosecutors into new territory -- from an unlicensed dump on Bray Road straight to the front door of Gov. Rick Snyder.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette charged four additional defendants with crimes related to Flint water Tuesday, Dec. 20, including two men Snyder appointed to run the city while it teetered on the brink of municipal bankruptcy from 2011 until 2015.

The newly charged are Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, former emergency managers here; former Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft and former utilities administrator Daugherty Johnson.

Earley and Ambrose are each charged with false pretenses, conspiracy to commit false pretenses, misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty. Croft and Johnson are each charged with false pretenses and conspiracy to commit false pretenses.

The false pretenses charges are the most serious against all the men -- potential 20-year felonies -- and mark the first time Schuette's special prosecutors have used them as a tool in their Flint water investigation.

Thirteen individuals have now been charged with crimes related to Flint lead-in-water disaster.

Prosecutors claim Earley and Ambrose "participated in a process that allowed the use of bonds to fund the construction of the Karengondi Water Authority pipeline despite the city's problem with its high debt level."

Prosecutors claim Croft and Johnson aided Ambrose and Earley in a process that allowed for officials to borrow money in order to deal with the emergency cleanup of the Bray Road dump, but instead used it to help pay for construction of the KWA pipeline.

Jeff Seipenko, a special agent with the attorney general, told Genesee District Court Judge William Crawford Tuesday that the false pretenses charges are based on claims that the four men worked together to pull off the slight of hand.

Flint and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality each signed off on a consent order that required the city to investigate and clean up what was dumped at the 40-acre Bray Road property as a condition of using it to dispose of the sludge from the water treatment plant.

Without a place to send the lime sludge, Flint couldn't have processed river water as cheaply because the property was already connected to the treatment plant through miles of underground pipe.

The city, while being run by Earley, switched its water source to the Flint River in 2014 and the DEQ never required the city to treat the water to make it less corrosive.

The water corroded lead and lead solder in pipes and home plumbing, and lead levels spiked in water and in the blood of children, resulting in a federally-recognized emergency.

Prosecutors also used charges they have filed against other defendants previously against Ambrose and Earley -- misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty.

The charges claim Earley allowed the Flint water treatment plant to treat water "despite knowledge the plant was not ready for use," allowed Flint to enter into a contract requiring the use of the plant, and authorized false and misleading statements that the water was safe to drink.

Ambrose obstructed and hindered an investigation into a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease by the Genesee County Health Department, prosecutors said.

The charges against the former emergency managers mark the first time officials directly appointed by Snyder have been charged in Schuette's investigation and the attorney general said the water crisis unfolded after officials made "balance sheets and finances rather than health and safety" their top priority.

Eight months ago, the Flint Water Advisory Task Force was also critical of the state's emergency manager system, concluding that managers charged with overseeing the state's financially distressed cities do not have, nor are they supported, with the expertise to oversee non-financial aspects of city government.

The task force recommended a review of the state's emergency manager law, which grants broad, sweeping powers to the appointees, and said that practices can be improved to better ensure that protection of public health and safety.

Anna Heaton, press secretary to Snyder, said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal that the charges filed Tuesday in Flint are serious and "should be moved through the legal process as soon as possible."

"That's a job for the attorney general and the courts. Anyone charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty and they deserve every chance to defend themselves against any accusations and charges," Heaton's statement says.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to helping the people of Flint recover, which is evident in the support the state has provided regarding water quality and resources, educational improvements, expansion of health care, and economic development ..."

Snyder has said previously that he's "open to that discussion" about changing the current emergency manager law and looks "forward to talking to the Legislature about that at some point in the future."

Three of the four men charged Tuesday appeared for district court arraignments, but Earley did not.

Earley has claimed he had limited input in the decision to use the Flint River as the city's water source, saying "the decision was made at the local level, by local civic leaders."

He testified before a congressional committee in March, saying city workers assured him they could make the Flint River safe to drink before distributing it to citizens two years ago.