By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A plea deal has been agreed to by a man who posed as a police officer and pulled over a woman in Livingston County.

42-year-old Michael Joseph Snyder of Northfield Township was charged in December with false impersonation of a police officer or employee of the United States following an October 27th incident on I-96 in Livingston County. A woman says she was pulled over by Snyder after she passed his 2015 Ford F-250 truck, but was immediately suspicious after Snyder started swearing at her. She also noticed that his truck had Texas license plates. When she questioned him, she says Snyder claimed to be a federal agent. She drove off after telling Snyder she didn’t believe him, but then followed the truck onto US-23 until it exited at M-36.

Snyder was later arrested at his home in Northfield Township where illegally installed red and blue flashing lights were found on his truck. Authorities also discovered a large assortment of tactical gear and weapons inside his home. Snyder told police he owned an online retail company that sold police tactical gear, but further investigation indicated Snyder has been accused of impersonating a police officer in previous incidents in Ann Arbor and Texas.

Court records show that on Wednesday, Snyder pleaded guilty to the charge in exchange for an agreement by prosecutors not to seek more than two years in prison. Snyder remains in federal custody pending a December 9th sentencing date.