5/8/13 - A Hartland Township man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping his son last year and served jail time is now facing scrutiny for allegedly soliciting inmates in a murder-for-hire plot. 53-year-old Mark Joseph Grabowski, a former football player who once played for the Detroit Lions, earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful retention of a child by a parent. The charge was filed following a massive search effort that began after Grabowski failed to return his then 11-year-old son Connor home to his mother prior to Labor Day weekend last year. He was arrested at a hunting ranch in South Dakota about a week later and sentenced in early March to 90 days in jail as well as five years of probation by Circuit Court Judge David Reader. Itâs alleged that while incarcerated, he solicited inmates to kill four individuals connected to his case. Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte confirms that his department conducted an investigation and spoke with five alleged witnesses. He says they were made aware of the alleged plot about three weeks ago, in which Grabowski possibly tried to solicit someone to kill Judge Reader, the mother of his son, the prosecutor and his attorney. Bezotte says deputies talked to five people who had knowledge of the incident within the jail and the findings of their investigation were submitted Monday morning to the Livingston County Prosecutorâs Office. Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt has declined to comment on the matter. The alleged plot became public after Judge Reader recused himself from the Grabowski case all together, following communications from the Sheriffâs Department. It was re-assigned to Judge Michael Hatty, who heard a motion to amend Grabowskiâs probation requirements. He ruled that the judge handling Grabowskiâs domestic case will decide the visitation matter. (JM)
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