Retired Berrien County Prosecutor and U.S. Attorney John Smietanka has died. We’ve learned the 84-year-old Smietanka passed away Tuesday.

Smietanka served as Berrien County Prosecutor from 1974 to 1981, and as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan from 1981 through 1994.

Smietanka was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as U.S. Attorney and nominated for a federal judgeship by President George H.W. Bush, but politics got in the way. Still, Smietanka stayed on with the Justice Department into the Clinton administration.

Smietanka was also the host of the radio program, With Respect, which airs on WSJM.

We’ll have more on the life and work of John Smietanka later today.

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