Fired Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore reaches plea deal to resolve home invasion case

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors Friday in a deal to resolve a felony criminal case that arose immediately after he was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant.

The deal was struck on the same day a judge planned to hear a challenge to Moore’s arrest in December on three charges, including felony home invasion. Those charges were dropped in exchange for Moore pleading no contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecom device in a relationship.

“Things have changed,” Judge J. Cedric Simpson said.

Moore had confronted the woman with whom he had been having an affair and blamed her for his dismissal, even threatening to kill himself with butter knives in her apartment, authorities said.

Assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski told the judge that the case changed “based on additional evidence and investigation as well as consultation” with the woman through her lawyer.

“What we do believe the evidence supports is criminal misbehavior in the context of an intimate partner relationship,” Rezmierski said.

Outside the courtroom, Moore's attorney said the three initial charges, which included stalking, were not supported by facts or law.

“The dismissal of those charges validates the concerns we raised about the investigation from the very beginning. Mr. Moore is pleased to put this behind him and move forward,” Ellen Michaels said as Moore and wife Kelli stood nearby.

Moore declined to comment on the outcome as they left together.

“Appreciate it,” he said.

Rezmierski also declined to comment. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14. One of the charges carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail, though Michaels predicted there would no additional time in custody beyond Moore's two nights in jail following his arrest.

“This is not the kind of case that somebody is punished by jail,” she said.

Michaels said she advised Moore to plead no-contest to help him move on with his family and avoid a trial.

“He has had the opportunity to be with his daughters, to be with his wife, to be home for the holidays, to take his kids to swim lessons,” she said. "As somebody who’s come up the coaching tree and became a head coach at a young age, that is something that he has missed out on.

“I can tell you that losing his job and and being at home, he has embraced it as an opportunity to reconnect to his family, to spend time with his kids and to become the man he wants to be," Michaels said.

Moore, 40, was fired on Dec. 10 after two seasons as the successor to Jim Harbaugh, who won a national championship before leaving to lead the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

In dismissing Moore, the university cited an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Rezmierski has said the woman ended the affair a few days before Moore’s firing and spoke to the school.

University of Michigan spokesman Paul Corliss said the school had no comment on Moore's no-contest plea.

At a hearing in February, Moore’s attorney said investigators left out key details when they obtained an arrest warrant for him. Michaels noted, for example, that a magistrate wasn’t told that Moore and the woman had a professional relationship.

Michaels said repeated text messages and phone calls had a legitimate purpose as the football team prepared for a bowl game and were not evidence of harassment. Police said Moore's assistant did not answer a dozen calls or respond to some messages from him before his dismissal.

A message seeking comment from attorney Heidi Sharp, who is representing Moore’s former executive assistant, was not immediately returned.

Michaels has accused the lawyer of giving information to police to “villainize Mr. Moore and maximize the chances of obtaining a large settlement from the deep pockets of the University of Michigan.”

Moore signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university did not have to buy out the remaining years of his contract because he was fired for cause.

Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the assistant prosecutor's name to Kati Rezmierski instead of Katie Rezmierski.

Sherrone Moore appears with his attorney, Ellen Michaels arrive for a hearing, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Washtenaw County assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski takes her seat as Sherrone Moore appears for a hearing, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Sherrone Moore appears with his attorney, Ellen Michaels, right for a hearing, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore arrives for a court hearing with his wife, Kelli Moore, left, and attorney Ellen Michaels, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros (dollars) in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said Friday.

The Ukrainians were released Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary's Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money.

“We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Friday.

The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and Ukraine as part of regular services between state banks, Sybiha said.

In a post on Facebook, Oschadbank board Chairman Yurii Katsion wrote that Hungary “groundlessly questions the source of the state bank’s funds, transported in accordance with international agreements and supported by all necessary documentation.”

The shipment seized by Hungary included 40 million U.S. dollars as well as 35 million euros and 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) of gold — worth around $1.5 million at current prices — according to a separate statement by Oschadbank.

After their detention, Hungary's government said it would expel the seven Ukrainians, but did not give details on why they would be released if they were suspected of money laundering. Later on Friday, Ukraine's foreign minister announced on social media that the seven Ukrainians had been returned to Ukraine.

The incident further inflamed rising tensions between Hungary and Ukraine, which are embroiled in a bitter feud over Hungary's access to Russian oil through a pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory.

Oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline have been interrupted since Jan. 27. Ukraine says a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline's infrastructure, and that repairing it carried risks to technicians. It said that even if restored, it would remain vulnerable to further Russian attacks.

Hungary's government has accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up supplies of Russian crude, and has vowed to take strong countermeasures against Kyiv until oil flows resume.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has maintained close relations with the Kremlin while escalating an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign ahead of crucial elections next month, has called Ukraine Hungary's “enemy,” and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of seeking to provoke an energy crisis in order to sway the April 12 vote.

“The best way for the Ukrainians to achieve their demands on Hungary is if they get rid of the national government and the prime minister who is standing in their way,” Orbán said in statements to state radio on Friday.

While he did not directly mention the detention of the bank vehicles, Orbán alluded to the incident, saying: “We will stop things that are important to Ukraine passing through Hungary until we get the approval of the Ukrainians for oil shipments.”

“The Ukrainians will run out of money sooner than we will run out of oil,” he added.

Trailing in most polls behind a popular center-right challenger, the populist Orbán has staked the election on convincing voters that Ukraine poses an existential threat to Hungary's security.

In office since 2010, the EU's longest-serving leader has claimed that if he loses the election, the European Union will force Hungary into bankruptcy by cutting Russian energy imports, and that Hungarian youth will be sent to their deaths on the front lines in Ukraine.

In his post, Ukraine's foreign minister cast Orbán's conduct as electoral politicking, saying the detention of the seven Ukrainians and seizure of money was “part of Hungary’s blackmail and electoral campaign.”

"We reserve the right to take appropriate action, including initiating sanctions and other restrictive measures," Sybiha wrote. “We once again demand Hungary stop dragging Ukraine into its domestic politics and electoral campaign.”

Hungary, along with neighboring Slovakia, have defied EU efforts to wean off Russian fossil fuels, and continued to purchase them despite Moscow's invasion.

Orbán previously ceased diesel shipments to Ukraine, vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia and blocked a major, 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan for Kyiv in retaliation for the interruption in oil shipments. He's also deployed military forces to key energy infrastructure sites across Hungary, accusing Ukraine of plotting disruptions.

On Thursday, Orbán told an economic forum that Hungary would use “force,” including “political and financial tools,” to compel Ukraine to resume oil shipments.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on Friday urged Ukrainian citizens to abstain from visiting Hungary, saying their security could not be guaranteed amid “arbitrary actions by the Hungarian authorities.”

The Ministry also called for Ukrainian and European businesses to take into account “the risk of arbitrary seizure of property” in Hungary.

FILE -Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, speaks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)