Ontonagon court halts parole of dangerous prisoner after AG intervention

On Tuesday, the Ontonagon County Circuit Court halted the July 12 parole of inmate Paul Gauthier from the Saginaw Correctional Facility in response to a requested stay of enforcement, filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. The stay was requested alongside an emergency application for leave to appeal in opposition to the parole of Gauthier. The stay will keep Gauthier in prison while the court considers the application for leave to appeal.

The Department of Attorney General seeks to reverse the Michigan Parole Board decision to release Gauthier, 70, who last resided in Ontonagon, who is serving a sentence of 15 to 30 years for Assault with Intent to Commit Murder. The Parole Board had approved his parole and set his release date for Wednesday, July 12.

Gauthier tried to kill his significant other by strangling and smothering her and was convicted by a jury in 2009. Gauthier has a history of physically abusing his significant others and was previously convicted of violating a no-contact order filed against him. The attorney general contends, in her emergency application, that Gauthier remains unremorseful and a danger to the public, and that the Parole Board failed in their duties and abused their discretion by approving his parole.  

“Gauthier continues to minimize his conduct and is essentially the same person who entered prison in 2009,” reads the court filing from the attorney general. “Most disturbing is that the decision to parole Gauthier places the victim in this case – and the community at large (particularly its female population) – at great risk of harm, both emotionally and physically.”