Flint investigation special prosecutor Todd Flood filed two new charges Monday against Dr. Eden Wells, accusing the states chief medical officer with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office in the Flint water crisis.
Wells had been charged with obstruction of justice and making a false statement related to a Legionnaires disease outbreak linked to at least 12 deaths and 79 illnesses. The obstruction charge carries a prison term for up to two years.
But new manslaughter charges carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a $7,500 fine, while the misconduct charge carries a prison sentence of up to five years and a $10,000 fine.
She joins five other current and former state and Flint officials in being charged with failing to act to prevent the death of 85-year-old Robert Skidmore of Genesee Township.
Wells had previously been accused of giving false testimony to a special agent and threatening to withhold state aid from the Flint Area Community Health and Environment Partnership if the partnership didn't stop its probe into the source of the Legionnaires' outbreak in the Flint area.
The hearing is being handled by 67th District Court Judge William Crawford II.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has kep Wells and Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyons in their posts post despite the filing of the charges. Lyon is in the middle of a preliminary exam on charges of involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice.
