DETROIT – A 45-year-old Michigan man in jail for murder has been sentenced to more time for possessing a contraband cell phone.
Vincent Smothers was sentenced Thursday, March 19, to 14-58 months’ incarceration. He was sentenced in February to 1 to 40 years’ incarceration for providing a false affidavit to a court.
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Smothers pleaded no contest to one count of obstruction of justice in December 2025 and one count of possession of a cell phone in a correctional facility in January.
Smothers has been in prison since 2010 after pleading guilty to eight murders. He later admitted to four more murders, leading to the release of a teen who was wrongfully convicted.
While serving his murder sentence, authorities said he signed a false affidavit in May 2019, purported to be newly discovered evidence to support another inmate’s request for a new trial.
While a motion seeking a new trial based on Smothers’ false affidavit was filed, the motion was denied.
After authorities found Smothers with a cell phone, they searched his jail cell, which led to the discovery of false affidavits that other inmates asked him to sign in an effort to secure wrongful release from prison.