David Coker of Clare, MI: Felony Charges Over Unbuilt Grant Project

David Coker Jr., a 52-year-old Clare, Michigan resident and former legislative aide to ex-House Speaker Jason Wentworth, has been ordered to stand trial on seven felony and misdemeanor counts for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a $25 million state grant that was supposed to build a community health campus in Clare County.¹ Ingham County District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons bound Coker over to the 30th Circuit Court on May 27, 2026, after a two-day preliminary examination. He has pleaded not guilty.

Before his arrest, Coker was a familiar figure in Clare County Republican politics. He had led the county Republican Party and more recently headed the Clare Chamber of Commerce.² Reporting describes him as Wentworth’s “former boss,” indicating the two had worked together before Wentworth became Speaker of the Michigan House.³

The Charges Coker Faces

Coker was originally charged in May 2025 and arraigned on May 14, 2025, before Judge Simmons in Ingham County’s 54A District Court. He was released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond.⁴ The seven counts against him are:

One count of conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony.
Three counts of false pretenses of $100,000 or more, each a 20-year felony.
Two counts of embezzlement of $100,000 or more, each a 20-year felony.
One count of misappropriation of public monies, a high misdemeanor carrying up to two years.⁵

Attorney General Dana Nessel said after the bind-over that she was “relieved” the case was moving to trial. “My office will prove that Mr. Coker funneled grant money into an obscure LLC for his own personal gain — funds that were supposed to be dedicated to Clare County’s public health,” Nessel said.¹

What Prosecutors Say Coker Did With the Money

The state’s theory centers on IW Consulting, a for-profit firm Coker owned. Complete Health Park’s board had contracted with IW Consulting to manage the project at 7% of total project costs plus $200 per hour for consulting services.⁶ Prosecutors say Coker never disclosed to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services that he owned IW Consulting, which the grant agreement required, creating a hidden conflict of interest.⁷

On January 9, 2023, the day MDHHS disbursed roughly $9.9 million in grant funds to Complete Health Park, Coker allegedly transferred $820,632 from the nonprofit to IW Consulting based on two invoices he personally wrote and approved, for $182,200 and $638,432.⁶ Prosecutors say those invoices “grossly overstated the value of services rendered” and that the total far exceeded a $212,000 annual cap that should have applied to consulting fees under the grant terms.⁸

From the IW Consulting account, prosecutors allege, the money moved into Coker’s personal accounts and was spent on:

Vehicles, including a 2023 Honda ORV, a 2015 Buick Lacrosse, a 2016 Ram 3500, and a 2024 Chevrolet Trax, plus more than $71,000 to pay off existing vehicle loans and $77,000 spent at a car dealership.⁶
More than 70 gold, silver, and platinum bars, at least 50 rare coins, and what Nessel called “a few literal silver bullets.”⁹
Sig Sauer firearm accessories, including rifle scopes, a thermal reflex sight, and a battle sight.⁶
Nearly $200,000 worth of land in Farwell, purchased in April 2023.⁸

Prosecutors also allege that on December 19, 2022, Coker personally approved a $150,000 payment from Complete Health Park to the Beta Sole Foundation, an entity controlled by Anthony Demasi, for purported “marketing/website” work. Demasi, a friend and business associate who had submitted the official grant application for the project, previously served 60 months in federal prison on a 2010 fraud conviction and later faced separate federal charges of aggravated identity theft, to which he pleaded not guilty.¹⁰

The Grant and the Project That Never Got Built

Coker filed paperwork on June 2, 2022, creating a nonprofit called Complete Health Park. The planned facility would have included a pool, fitness areas, athletic courts and fields, a bowling alley, and medical office buildings for doctors, dentists, and chiropractors.¹¹ The nonprofit was created about a month before Wentworth, as House Speaker, inserted a $25 million no-bid earmark for the project into the 2022 state budget.²

Coker applied for the grant through MDHHS in October 2022. Demasi, listed as project manager, submitted the official application on November 30, 2022, and a grant agreement for the full $25 million was finalized on December 15, 2022.¹² The state suspended the grant in 2023 after investigators discovered red flags, and construction never began. The case was referred to the Attorney General’s office in August 2023 by the MDHHS Office of Inspector General after state legislators raised concerns.⁵

What the Defense Is Arguing

Coker’s attorney, Joshua Blanchard, has called the prosecution an “unusual theory of fraud” and argued that the project was a legitimate effort to bring health services to a community that is “poorer and less healthy than the rest of the state.”¹ Blanchard argues the Complete Health Park board knew Coker owned IW Consulting, that the ownership was a matter of public record in state corporation filings dating to 2020, and that the state’s grant administrator never asked Coker about a conflict of interest. He also notes the board negotiated the consulting fee down from 8% to 7%, which he says shows the arrangement was above-board. If payments to IW Consulting were contractually legitimate, Blanchard contends, the firm had discretion over how to spend them, including on real estate.⁸

Blanchard has further suggested the project collapsed because of outside interference rather than any crime, and that Nessel is trying to “criminalize a project approved by her political opponents.”³

Why Wentworth and Kunse Were Not Charged

Coker is the only person charged in connection with the Clare health park grant. After a nearly two-year investigation, Nessel announced that neither Wentworth nor State Rep. Tom Kunse would face charges, saying investigators found “no criminal wrongdoing” by either lawmaker. Both cooperated with the investigation.¹³

Kunse’s family had separately sold $3.5 million worth of land to Complete Health Park using grant funds, a transaction for which no appraisal was conducted. Nessel described the optics of that sale as “ethically concerning” but confirmed no laws were broken.¹⁴ Kunse was in fact among the officials who flagged concerns about the project to MDHHS in early 2023, alongside State Sen. Roger Hauck, which helped prompt the state to pause the grant and open its investigation.¹³

Where the Case Stands

Coker’s case is now pending in the 30th Circuit Court. As of late May 2026, no trial date has been set. Separately, FED Corporation, the Gladwin-based contractor that received about $5.4 million to develop the complex, returned roughly $4.83 million to the state under an agreement with MDHHS and the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General’s office has not suggested any wrongdoing by FED Corporation.¹¹

1
Bridge Michigan. Judge Orders Former Aide to Stand Trial in Michigan Earmark Embezzlement Case
2
Bridge Michigan. Former Legislative Aide Charged With Embezzlement in $25M Clare Earmark Scandal
3
Bridge Michigan. Ex-CFO: I Was Fired After Raising Concerns Over $25M Earmark Project
4
MIRS News. Former Wentworth Aide Charged With Embezzlement
5
Michigan Department of Attorney General. Complete Health Park Founder to Stand Trial on Multiple Felonies for Misusing State Grant Funds
6
Michigan Department of Attorney General. Warrant Packet – Coker (Redacted)
7
Michigan Department of Attorney General. Complete Health Park Founder Charged With Multiple Felonies for Misusing State Grant Funds
8
Bridge Michigan. Prosecutor: Health Park Founder Enriched Himself With State Grant
9
Michigan Advance. Former Aide to Michigan’s Ex-House Speaker to Stand Trial on Embezzlement Charges
10
Bridge Michigan. Records: Firm of Ex-Aide to Michigan Speaker Paid $820K Within Days of Grant
11
Bridge Michigan. Firm Returns $4.8M to Michigan Amid Clare Health Park Embezzlement Case
12
Bridge Michigan. Timeline: How $25 Million Deal for Ex-House Aide Raised Red Flags, Faltered
13
Our Midland. Kunse, Wentworth Will Not Face Charges in Clare Health Park Probe
14
Detroit News. Former Michigan House Speaker’s Aide Charged With Embezzlement