A fundraising and political consultant on Wednesday lost an appeal to quash criminal charges related to an alleged "dark money scheme" to obscure the backers of a Michigan ballot campaign.

Heather Lombardini had appealed an Ingham County Circuit Court judge's rejection of a motion to quash the charges, arguing there was insufficient evidence for the charges and that they are "inextricably linked" to campaign finance, yet were not brought under Michigan's campaign finance law in spite of that law's exclusivity clause.

In a one-paragraph order, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel rejected the appeal.

The co-founder of Bright Spark Strategies, a Lansing, Michigan, consulting firm, Lombardini was charged in February 2024 and bound over later that year on two felony charges, one count of uttering and publishing and one count of forgery, while three counts of campaign finance violations were dismissed.

The Michigan attorney general's office has accused Lombardini of participating in what the office has labeled a "dark money scheme" to conceal the identities of donors funding a ballot proposal campaign by funneling their contributions through nonprofit organizations. The campaign, dubbed Unlock Michigan, sought to limit the governor's emergency powers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to state investigators, supporters of the Unlock Michigan campaign were directed to donate to nonprofit organizations Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility and Michigan! My Michigan!, which each contributed funds to the Unlock Michigan campaign. Lombardini was listed as the president of MCFR and treasurer of MMM in their organizational statements.

The nonprofit organizations did not have to disclose the names of their donors, unlike political campaigns, enabling Unlock Michigan supporters to keep their identities hidden.

Lombardini's charges relate to a statement attributed to her in an affidavit submitted in response to a campaign finance complaint. In the affidavit, Lombardini denied that MCFR solicited or received contributions for Unlock Michigan.

In her appeal, Lombardini argued the attorney general was improperly twisting a campaign finance case into a forgery prosecution to avoid running into expired criminal enforcement deadlines under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.

But that legislation is the exclusive enforcement mechanism for campaign finance activities, Lombardini argued, and any enforcement under the act is "untimely — by a longshot."

"The statute imposes strict timelines for both the secretary of state to refer a matter to the AG for criminal enforcement (90 business days), and for the attorney general to then decide whether to proceed with criminal enforcement (60 business days)," Lombardini said. "Here, the secretary of state made her referral months late, and then the attorney general waited another year and a half to file charges — more than 400 business days after the statutory deadline."

Lombardini initially faced three misdemeanor campaign finance violation counts as well, but a district court judge dismissed the counts as time-barred in 2024, citing the MCFA deadlines.

According to Ingham County Circuit Court records, Lombardini's jury trial is set to begin Jan. 27 in front of Judge Wanda M. Stokes.

Another fundraising consultant, Sandra Baxter, was accused of lying to state investigators about the extent of her role fundraising for Unlock Michigan.

Baxter was initially charged with perjury, but pled guilty to the lesser charge of making a false statement, a misdemeanor. She was sentenced in August to three months of probation, community service and a $2,500 fine, according to the Michigan attorney general's office.

Lawyers for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Judges Allie Greenleaf Maldonado, Michelle M. Rick and Matthew S. Ackerman sat on the panel for the Court of Appeals.

The state is represented by Kahla D. Crino, John S. Pallas and Autumn A. Wilmot of the Department of Attorney General.

Lombardini is represented by Paul D. Hudson, Thomas W. Cranmer and Gerald J. Gleeson of Miller Canfield Paddock & Stone PLC.

The case is People of Michigan v. Heather Lombardini, case number 376801, in the Michigan Court of Appeals.