Ray Severance, a police officer for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, was arraigned in 92nd District Court in St. Ignace Tuesday, December 23, and pled not guilty on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and reckless driving.

A pre-trial hearing is set for January 28.

Mr. Severance is a 12-year veteran of the tribal police department.

The tribal attorney's office declined to comment as to whether Mr. Severance is suspended from his position.

Mr. Severance, who was off duty at the time, was pulled over by St. Ignace city police officer Rich Cullen Thursday, December 18, near the home of an off-duty city policeman. Two off-duty officers were riding with Mr. Severance, but received no citations.

The three men had attended a private Christmas party for local police at a Mackinaw City restaurant, and had congregated at a bar in St. Ignace afterward. Mr. Severance was pulled over after city police received a citizen's complaint that night that police officers had been drinking at a bar and were considering driving, said Mackinac County Prosecutor Fred Feleppa.

Officer Cullen, who was working alone that evening, also approached an off-duty state police trooper on the same tip, but no citations were issued.

Although Mr. Feleppa is treating the case against Mr. Severance as "just another drinking and driving incident," he did tell The St. Ignace News Monday, December 29, that the case could be sensitive, as Mr. Cullen, who joined the St. Ignace Police Department earlier this year, is a former tribal police officer.

Mr. Severance was not arrested at the time of the incident, but rather told by Officer Cullen to "sleep it off" at the off-duty officer's home, according to Mr. Feleppa. Mr. Severance surrendered to authorities the next day, but was not incarcerated.

"I believe this is a straight-up drinking and driving incident," Mr. Feleppa said, but, addressing why Mr. Severance wasn't arrested and placed in jail overnight, he added, "There is a double standard there with it involving off-duty cops. Obviously, if it was anyone else other than a cop, that person would be placed under arrest and put in jail. This double standard is not right.

"It is a difficult situation for both Officer Cullen and [St. Ignace Police Chief] Tim Matelski to be in," he said.

Discussions between the tribe and the city are ongoing in an attempt to settle those issues outside of court, said Mr. Feleppa.

Officer Cullen is the son-in-law of former Sault Tribe Police Chief Fred Paquin, who is currently suspended without pay while being investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for "budgetary improprieties," according to The St. Ignace News article May 15.

Mr. Feleppa said rumors that Officer Cullen was targeting Mr. Severance for any retribution from issues involving Mr. Paquin's pending charges is a realistic angle that this case may include.

"We and the city believe Officer Cullen was acting appropriately," said Mr. Feleppa. "Hopefully, Rich didn't have it out for Ray."

The St. Ignace News contacted St. Ignace Police Chief Matelski, City Manager Eric Dodson, and Sault Tribe attorney Aaron Schlehuber, but all of them declined to comment.

Mr. Severance's attorney, Jocelyn Fabry of Bias and Fabry in Sault Ste. Marie, said she is confident about the innocence of her client.

"Having reviewed the evidence in this case, the charges are baseless," she told The St. Ignace News Monday, December 29. "My client is looking forward to having his good name cleared, and we are potentially pursuing any civil remedies he may have."

She declined further comment.