After a series of rejections, convicted swindler Dean Reynolds may get a chance to have a federal court hold a rehearing to determine if his conviction was unconstitutional.

And he has New Year’s Eve to thank.

Reynolds was an elected trustee in Clinton Township when a jury convicted him on 14 counts of bribery or conspiracy to commit bribery in 2028 in federal court. U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland sentenced him to 17 years in prison.

Two previous attempts to appeal either the conviction failed and a third was not acted on.

Last July, his attorney Barry Powers filed a petition to appeal for a rehearing. Powers argued the court had mistakenly concluded his petition was submitted too late.

A three-judge panel responded on March 12 with an order admitting the error.

“He is correct,” the judges said in court documents.

How could federal judges make a mistake in their previous ruling?

Turns out, the court didn’t realize or overlooked the fact New Year’s Eve is officially recognized as a state holiday in Michigan.

It’s kind of complicated, but here is a recap of Reynolds’ record in the courts.

Court records show after Reynolds was found guilty, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court in November 2020 denied Reynolds’s petition for a review. One year later, he filed a motion again, challenging the constitutionality of his case. He claimed he had ineffective legal counsel and he lacked specific intent to commit the offenses, among other reasons for the appeal.

The U.S. District Court denied the motion in 2024. On Jan. 2, 2025, Reynolds asked the district court to reconsider, which was denied in May. But the district court denied the motion as “untimely.”

Court rules mandate Reynolds had 28 days to file his motion that previous December to have the judge reconsider the case. That would seem to indicate Powers had until Dec. 31, 2024 to file, the judges said in their order.

But in Michigan, the three-judge panel said, New Year’s Eve is recognized as a legal holiday, which would have given Powers another day to file his motion. The next day, or Jan. 1, 2025, was also recognized as a legal holiday.

“Reynolds therefore timely filed his Rule 59(e) motion on January 2, 2025,” the judges wrote.

Powers said Reynolds was very happy to hear the judge ruled in his favor and gave him a little hope in eventually being let out of federal prison.

“We still have some ammunition,” the attorney said. “This gives us a second bite at the apple to show the court what our arguments are to gain a certificate of appealability.”

Harsh sentence in public corruption case

Reynolds was part of a widespread political corruption scandal that led to federal charges against 22 contractors and public officials and produced 17 convictions, including trash mogul Chuck Rizzo and towing titan Gasper Fiore.

Reynolds — once described by a federal prosecutor as a “shakedown artist” — went to prison for his criminal convictions in connection with millions of dollars in township garbage, towing, and engineering contracts involving Michigan’s largest township. He also was ordered to pay $15,000 in fines after he was found guilty of four counts of bribery conspiracy and 10 counts of accepting bribes.

He had been indicted in 2016 for accepting bribes from former trash-hauling company Rizzo Environmental Services in return for his influence in giving Rizzo lucrative contracts from the township. The indictment said Reynolds accepted bribes worth more than $50,000.

Federal prosecutors during the trial said the evidence showed Reynolds demanded and took over $150,000 in bribes in four separate bribery conspiracies involving four different government contracts.

The bribes included over $75,000 in cash, $50,000 in free legal services for Reynolds’ divorce, and an all-expenses paid trip to Disney World, including an eight-night stay in a deluxe-level room costing over $600 per night. The jury found that Reynolds demanded bribes in connection with the Clinton Township garbage-hauling contract worth over $16 million, the township engineering contract worth over $500,000 per year, and the township towing contract.

After he was found guilty, his harsh 204-month sentence was one of the longest corruption sentences in Metro Detroit history and 11 years shy of the one issued to former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Federal investigators said Reynolds was so desperate to be released from jail, in 2018 he devised a scheme to convince the court he was suffering from kidney cancer and his mother was in hospice.

Investigators listened in on phone calls Reynolds was making from jail — not to his attorney, but to others — and they said Reynolds made up the cancer and dying mother stories.

Now 58 years old, Reynolds is serving his sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Milan.

His name was mentioned at a recent Clinton Township board meeting where the township is being asked to approve new ownership for their existing trash hauler.

Township resident Sam Buschell spoke in favor of a 30-day pause in approving the new owner in order to give township officials a chance to research the incoming owners, TPG, a global investment firm.

“We have a former trustee who is still in jail from when Rizzo bought the (trash) contract,” Buschell said. “We don’t know if any of the people who caused trouble in the past among the current people coming in.”

Hoping case gets tossed

In their ruling that revived Reynolds’ hopes of getting out of prison, he now has the opportunity to file the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for a rehearing for relief from the judgement. The government will also have a chance to respond.

May 19 is the deadline to file, according to Powers, the defense attorney. He said he hopes to have “a favorable decision for Dean” by the end of the year at the latest. The motion to vacate can result in resentencing, retrial or release, he said.

“Dean should get a new trial,” Powers said, adding his argument issues include the judge’s instructions to the jury and what constitutes a bribe versus a gratuity.

“We’re hoping the court throws out the conviction. I’m hopeful. I know Dean is pretty excited.”