Former Macomb County Deputy Pleads Guilty to Fixing Woman's Breathalyzer Results

A former Macomb County Sheriff's deputy from Chesterfield Township pleaded guilty this month to charges in an alleged scheme to fix an adult entertainment club employee's alcohol screening tests, according to the Michigan Attorney General's Office.

Joseph Cada, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a crime report for his part in falsifying test results for co-defendant Trista Leigh-Ann Caswell 28, of New Baltimore. 

“Citizens of Michigan deserve the highest integrity from their public officials," Attorney General Bill Schuette stated in a news release. "We will make every effort to hold our officers to the highest standards and will continue to shine a light on corruption wherever we find it."

Cada is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 8 before Judge Robert Bondy in the 52-1 District Court in Novi.  As a condition of his plea, he surrendered his Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards certification--meaning he won't be eligible to work in law enforcement again.  He had been suspended without pay when the charges surfaced and was no longer a sheriff's department employee at the time of he plea deal, authorities said.

Caswell, who did not work in law enforcement, pleaded guilty to the same offense May 1.  She has already been sentenced to supervised probation. 

Test tampering allegations 

Caswell was ordered March 24, 2011, in the Novi district court to take in-home alcohol Breathalyzer tests as a condition of probation for a disorderly person charge.

“After missing multiple Breathalyzer tests and failing one, it is alleged Caswell met Cada at her place of employment, the Traffic Light, an adult entertainment establishment in Mt. Clemens, to concoct a scheme to avoid future tests," the Attorney General's Office stated in March.

Cada and Caswell are accused of conspiring to mislead the court and its probation agents by filing fraudulent statements showing Caswell passed five Breathalyzer tests he administered. 

“Five fraudulent statements bearing the insignia of the Macomb County Sheriff Department were allegedly drafted and signed by Cada. Three of the fraudulent statements listed his badge number on them," the office states. The statements declared Cada administered the court-ordered Breathalyzer tests and Caswell blew a .000 on all of them—meaning she was in compliance with her probation terms.

Authorities say the statements were submitted to the court's probation agent Oct. 24, 2012.  But, when Caswell was called before Bondy on Nov. 6, 2012, she admitted Cada's statements were fraudulent. Bondy sentenced Caswell to 90 days in the Oakland County Jail for violating the conditions of her parole.