Heather Lombardini pleads guilty to misdemeanor in Unlock Michigan fundraising scandal

Heather Lombardini, the former head of Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, or MCFR, and the co-founder of Bright Spark Strategies consulting firm, pleaded guilty last week to using a computer to commit a crime, a misdemeanor.

Lombardini was set to face trial this week on charges of forgery and uttering and publishing as a result of a probe into the Unlock Michigan ballot proposal, which sought to repeal the state’s gubernatorial emergency powers law in the early days of the pandemic. The effort and MCFR were both connected to former Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey.

Lombardini pleading guilty to a lesser charge also saw her other charges dismissed. She was ordered to pay a fine of $125, the Department of Attorney General confirmed. Lombardini was not ordered to serve probation.

Her July 8 trial date was canceled by the Ingham Circuit Court judge overseeing her case.

It was alleged that Lombardini, who was the treasurer of Michigan! My Michigan!, encouraged some of Michigan’s wealthiest businesspeople and political funds associated with large businesses to donate to MCFR with the intention of moving that money to Unlock Michigan’s signature collection effort to move the initiative forward.

The prosecution was aimed at deterring others from abusing the nonprofit political campaign fund system, which Attorney General Dana Nessel previously said was abused by politicos bending the rules and without recourse because Michigan’s campaign finance law was mostly toothless and needed stronger regulation of 501 C(4) accounts.

Baxter pleads guilty in Unlock Michigan case

Lombardini’s case was one of two prosecutions that stemmed from the Unlock Michigan scandal.

Sandra Baxter, another political fundraiser implicated in the matter, pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge in June of 2025. She faced a charge of perjury for lying to investigators about the extent of her fundraising efforts for the Unlock Michigan ballot proposal.

Baxter last year pleaded guilty, instead, to one count of knowingly providing a false or misleading statement to a police officer during a criminal investigation. The charge carries a sentence of one year in jail and or a $2,500 fine.