Man gets two months in jail to be served on weekends for poisoning estranged wife in Macomb Township, Michigan
By Jameson Cook
Macomb Daily
August 1, 2019
A woman’s impassioned plea for a judge to jail her ex-husband who drugged her, succeeded mildly as the judge jailed him for only 60 days, to be served on weekends.
Brian Kozlowski, 46, of Mount Clemens, was sentenced to five years probation with the first two months in the county jail Thursday by Visiting Judge Antonio Viviano in Macomb County Circuit Court.
Viviano previously indicated he would sentence Kozlowski to probation but issued a slightly tougher sentence after listening to a 20-minute description of the ordeal and its impacts by the victim.
The woman, who requested anonymity, accused Kozlowski of trying to kill her by placing eight sleeping pills in her morning pot of coffee. The coffee was also was consumed by their adult daughter. Both of the women nearly crashed their cars on their way to work after consuming it. He performed the acts shortly after the woman filed for divorce in May 2018.
“Brian’s continuous, methodical, and calculated plot to poison me included a complete disregard for human life, including his own daughter, along with hundreds of other drivers who he put at risk every day for weeks,” she said. “I believe this was attempted murder. Once Brian realized he lost me and there was no getting me to stay in this unhealthy marriage, his goal was to eliminate me.
“To think that the man I fell in love with at 16 years old and have three beautiful children with would endanger my life was unbelievable.”
The Macomb Township couple had been married for 23 years and were together 29 years, raising three children. He works in a machine shop and she is an accountant.
She said she believes his motive was financial as he would benefit from her death by collecting more than $1 million from her retirement account, life insurance and savings. She was earning $180,000 per year working for a large company.
“Brian was trying to kill me to keep his comfortable life from slipping away,” she said. “Clearly, financial gain was the tip of his sword.”
The woman said noticed the effects the first time when she nearly crashed her car on a freeway while driving to work in Detroit and had blurry vision, felt nauseous and vomited at work. After suffering effects multiple days, she placed hidden cameras in the kitchen. She observed Kozlowski dissolve eight sleeping pills in a shot glass and pour it in the pot of coffee he made each morning for weeks. After she first watched the video, she said she didn’t drink the coffee and saved it for evidence to ensure evidence for a criminal conviction.
Kozlowski was charged with poisoning, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and in June pleaded no contest to the charge.
Viviano sentenced Kozlowski below the guideline range of between 19 months and 39 months in state prison at the minimum end, far below Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office request and Probation Department’s recommendation of 38 months.
Despite her concerns, the victim requested a county jail term, which would be limited to one year.
After Viviano announced the two-month jail term, to be served on weekends, Assistant Macomb Prosecuted Darra Slanec blurted, “It’s a slap in the face” to the victim, and asked to redress the judge, who denied her request.
Her boss, Prosecutor Eric Smith, had expressed concern about Viviano's potential probationary sentence Wednesday in a news release.
On Thursday, Smith told a TV stations he believes Viviano was more concerned about Kozlowski maintaining his employment, and said his office plans to appeal the sentence.
Viviano called the case "difficult."
"Miss Kozlowski's statement was moving. I was moved by Miss Kozlowski's statement. She did suffer. She did suffered because of the actions of this man. Whatever she did, she doesn't deserve that."
Viviano also criticized Smith's attempt to influence the outcome of a court case through publicity, calling it "actually illegal."
"I certainly am not allowed give up this gentleman's right to an individualized sentence due to pressure being put on the court by outside forces," he said. "That is not proper."
Kozlowski’s attorney, Brian Legghio, in seeking the lighter sentence, said Kozlowski has “great, profound remorse,” and has little chance of recidivism with the help of strong family support. His parents –- a retired Center Line police officer and retired school district employee -- attended the sentencing.
“He did a regrettably stupid, heinous act,” Legghio said. “That doesn’t mean he should lose his entire life.”
Kozlowski’ told the judge, “I am truly sorry for what I did, I deeply would like to apologize to my ex-wife for everything I’ve done, and my family.”
Legghio in court and in an 18-page sentencing memorandum said that Kozlowski was suffering from depression and emotional trauma from his wife at the time informing him in 2016 she wanted a divorce, her verbal jabs to him and his suspicions she was having an affair.
In the memo file Thursday, Legghio says Kozlowski drugged her “to make her tired so that she wouldn’t ‘run around all night.’
“It was never his intention to poison his wife,” he wrote. “Her constant belittling remarks and intended behavior caused him enormous pain and humiliation, which led him to act out his upset and impulses.”
However, Slanec said Kozlowski is only suffering depression and trauma only because he got caught and knew he was facing prison.
Slanec and the victim also noted this was not a one-time, impulsive incident but a premeditated effort.
She described her fear of during the period she was filming him, calling it "crippling and consuming."
“I spent every day terrified every day he would catch me and every night sleepless in fear he would see the cameras and come into our bedroom and hurt me,” she said.
The victim said she also learned Kozlowski placed laxatives in her protein shake powder and in the past had put Adderall in her vodka drinks while the couple spent long days on their boat.
She said the incident has severely damaged his relationship with his children; two of them are estranged, and Kozlowski is living with the third child, a 26-year-old man.
“Brian has destroyed our family,” she said. “He’s taken away any chance of us being a functioning divorced family. He’s driven wedges between our three children who are still struggling in their own way to face the reality of what he did and at the same time balance everything I’ve ever instilled with them about family coming first and being there for each other no matter what.”
“My heart breaks every time I think what he has done to them. The devastating effects of what he did to them will stay with them the rest of their lives.”
After the ruling, Leggio called the sentence "proportionate."
"My client and I appreciate the independence of this judge," he said.
He said Kozlowski has suffered from the loss of relationships with his children.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is how weekend sentences work out. You check into jail Friday evening and are released Monday morning. And here comes the kicker. You are credited with being jailed on Fridays and Mondays. So, instead of being credited only for Saturday and Sunday, you are credited for serving four days each weekend. Thus, instead of serving 30 weekends, Kozlowski will have to serve only 15 weekends. Not bad for a guy who tried to kill his wife.
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