Alcona County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Weichel

ALCONA — In 33 years, Alcona County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Weichel has experienced more of the darkness of humanity than most people ever will. He’s also seen the other side of the coin: recovery, resilience, and hope.

Weichel reflected on his time as prosecutor as his years spent serving the community in that position come to a close.

Weichel began working as the Alcona County prosecuting attorney in 1993. Since then, he has achieved a number of accomplishments and worked on some major cases in the county.

Weichel served 25 years on the Huron Undercover Narcotics Team (HUNT) board. Drug crime, particularly when it comes to trafficking, delivering, and manufacturing drugs, is one issue that Weichel is especially passionate about.

“The drug cases are probably the most important cases to me,” he said. “People that are spreading the disease of addiction to families and children have to be taken with the utmost seriousness.”

Drugs have a big impact on community safety, he said. Weichel talked about the changes in the kind of drugs most commonly used over the years. When he first started, marijuana was a big issue. From there, Weichel saw the first heroin case in the county in the late 1990s. Since then, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin have increased to levels that are very scary for a small county like Alcona and very scary for Northeast Michigan, he said.

“That’s one of the reasons I’ve been so hard on people distributing drugs,” Weichel said.

It’s also one of the reasons that Alcona started a treatment and recovery court in 2005, he said. The court has since expanded to include Iosco and Oscoda counties.

Weichel has served on multiple boards including the board of directors for Child and Family Services. He served in various roles on the Prosecuting Attorney Association board, including a term as president in 2023. He was appointed twice by former Gov. Rick Snyder to the governor’s task force for juvenile justice, where he assisted in creating state policy to help protect children in the State of Michigan. In 1993, he wrote the first strong families, safe children grant for the county to make families stronger and protect the children in the community.

When he first began practice, Weichel assisted former 26th Circuit Court Judge Joseph Swallow in creating the Sunrise Centre in Alpena, which serves as a residential treatment center for those recovering from addiction.

Over the years, Weichel has interacted with people in all walks of life.

“Good people do make mistakes, and we have to deal with those people,” he said.

On the other hand, he has had to recognize the reality of evil in the world.

“There is truly evil in this world, in this state and in this county, and those people have to be dealt with much more harshly than the good person that makes mistakes,” Weichel said. “It takes a lot of work to keep the community safe.”

Weichel has served as prosecutor for several murder cases, including the Aaron Trout case. Trout was found guilty of torturing and murdering a 2-year-old child and sentenced to up to 90 years in prison.

He was also prosecutor during the Nelson Bolzman case in the 90s. Bolzman was convicted of second degree murder for strangling his wife and leaving her in the middle of a dirt road in Curtis Township, Weichel said.

“But all of the cases I have been involved in are all of course important,” he said. “From drunk driving to breaking and entering, they all have an impact on our community.”

Changes that Weichel has witnessed in 33 years include the impact of digital evidence in cases.

“It takes hours to review digital evidence,” he said.

The proliferation of digital evidence has made his job much more time consuming. When he started out, digital evidence was not nearly as prevalent.

He’s also seen funding for the criminal justice system start to go under.

“There is a complete lack of funding for prosecutors’ offices across the state which is very disturbing,” Weichel said.

Even so, Weichel said he will miss aiding in helping keep Alcona County safe.

Weichel graduated from Alcona High School in 1979, making the community a very special place to him.

“I’ll miss solving problems on behalf of the citizens of the county whether it be crime-related or politically related,” he said.

He also said he’d miss the people employed by the county that are really dedicated to the citizens of Alcona.

In retirement, Weichel said he will continue working on a limited basis and continue to have his hands in the Alcona County government. He will also be doing a lot more golfing and spending time out in the woods, hunting, and fishing.

Weichel thanked the Alcona County Commissioners for their support and help over the years. They have always listened to his concerns in reference to the community, he said.

“Alcona County is an extremely special place,” Weichel said. “I would like to thank the community for their support over the last 33 or so years. Without them I could not have succeeded in the things I accomplished.”

Elizabeth Reed has been appointed Alcona County’s new prosecuting attorney, effective Sept. 1 upon the retirement of Weichel.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.