Ex-Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore avoided jail time on April 14 when a judge sentenced him on criminal charges stemming from a 2025 encounter at the home of a woman with whom he had a roughly two-year affair.
14A District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson ordered Moore to serve 18 months of probation and pay about $1,100 in fees. He must continue mental health treatment, avoid alcohol, and not contact the woman involved.
Simpson also ordered a 180-day sentence and a separate 30-day sentence, but the terms were suspended. That means that if Moore abides by the terms of probation, he will not return to jail.
“I don’t believe … incarceration would be an appropriate sentence,” Simpson said.
“Frankly Mr. Moore, you had no right to do what you did. … You had no right to spread your pain to her.”
Simpson ordered a review hearing for October 2027.
Paige Shiver’s attorneys issued a written statement from her after the sentencing, saying the punishment did not “reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case.”
“The University of Michigan gave this man limitless power and emboldened him to do whatever he wanted for years with no accountability, ” Shiver said in the statement. “December 10th was the most terrifying day of my life. The criminal acts he committed were extremely frightening and violent.
“He broke into my apartment, crying, yelling, enraged, and came at me with knives. I was threatened, and I feared for my life.”
Simpson said the person who is saving Moore from the “full wrath of this court is the one you betrayed.”
He specifically referenced Moore’s wife, Kelli, lauding her strength. He noted the terror in her voice when she called police in order to try and find her husband the day he was fired by the university.
Simpson said he could hear Moore’s “babies” in the background of one call to police.
“The letter that she wrote to the court … certainly had the biggest impact on this court and what I should impose,” Simpson said.
At times, Sherrone Moore nodded during Simpson’s comments about the coach’s wife.
“I am amazed by you, Ms. Moore. I truly am,” Simpson said.
“I think, in all honesty … we need more people like you in this world.”
The words were part of his extended comments offering some context as to how he arrived at his decision and the case in general.
“The morality of what transpired, that’s not something for the court to decide. I am not passing judgment on that course of conduct,” Simpson said.
“What is not my role here … is to put on a thumb on the scale of what might be future litigation involving the University of Michigan. That is not the realm I am operating in.”
Simpson lauded the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. He argued they could have proceeded with the case and “let the chips fall where they may.”
“When the charges were filed, they were appropriate,” Simpson said, referring to the original charges.
“But as with any case, as more facts become known and as more things happen, the facts and the analysis change.”
During the hearing, Moore provided a short statement. He said he wanted to thank Jesus, his wife, the court and his lawyer.
“I’ve taken this process very seriously. … I’m ready to proceed,” Moore said.
His wife, Kelli, walked with him into the courtroom.
Shiver, the 32-year-old former executive assistant with whom Moore had an affair and whose home he entered after his firing, did not speak during the hearing.
Simpson said he would have preferred to hear from Shiver. He acknowledged the concern that she would not be heard and that Moore would not be held accountable.
He said Shiver asked for the harshest punishment the court could give: In this case, jail time.
Kati Rezmierski, first assistant prosecutor for Washtenaw County, said she wanted to emphasize the charges were supported by the facts and the law. She did not ask for any specific sentence from Simpson, but said she needed to underscore there was “a young woman who was deeply impacted” by Moore’s actions.
A spokeswoman for Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit declined to comment.
Ellen Michaels, Moore’s lawyer, asked Simpson to sentence him to probation. In a brief statement, she walked through Moore’s upbringing. She said he is the son of immigrants, including a father who served in the military. She said Moore was bullied as a kid, but that sports gave him confidence, direction and purpose.
“He has handled adversity with grace and with dignity,” Michaels said.
Moore has “re-centered himself” around his family while expressing remorse to those around him, Michaels said.
Moore, 40, reached a plea agreement in March with Washtenaw County prosecutors after he pleaded no contest to malicious use of a telecommunications device and one count of trespass. Both are misdemeanors and different from charges originally brought last year upon his arrest.
Prosecutors originally charged Moore with third-degree felony home invasion, a misdemeanor count of stalking related to a domestic relationship, and a misdemeanor count of breaking and entering-illegal entry without owner’s permission.
Before announcing his sentence, Simpson talked about the evidence used to arrive at the original charges to explain why prosecutors “did what they did.” He said law enforcement was professional and “attempted to try to get to the bottom of it.”
Simpson seemed to take aim at Shiver’s credibility, suggesting phone records undermine Shiver’s comments that she asked Moore to stop contacting her. It appears he arrived at this conclusion by his own review of evidence.
He said this evidence essentially destroyed the prosecutor’s case on the original charges. The judge lauded the prosecutor’s decision to stop going forward with their original charges.
“They did the right thing,” Simpson said.
Simpson said Moore also had the door code to Shiver’s apartment.
However, Simpson agreed Moore’s team “realized there were certain wrongs that had occurred.”
Moore was fired on Dec. 10 after U-M determined he engaged in an inappropriate relationship. Earlier that week, Shiver told university officials about the relationship. The two had both previously been interviewed about their extramarital affairs and denied any relationship outside of their workplace.
Moore went to Shiver’s apartment after he was fired. Police and prosecutors say he barged in, picked up butter knives, and backed her into a corner. He also threatened self-harm before leaving. He was arrested shortly thereafter. Police records say Moore did not dispute the affair, but denied ever threatening or harming Shiver.
Moore’s legal team fought the charges. In the midst of legal wrangling over how police presented evidence to the magistrate who affirmed the original charges, prosecutors and Moore’s legal team reached a deal.
After reaching the deal, Michaels said her client looked forward to putting the matter behind him.
That same day in March, lawyers representing Shiver issued a statement that publicly identified her as Moore’s assistant for the first time. The statement indicated she wanted justice from the university, foreshadowing a lawsuit.
Michaels said the basis for Moore’s no contest plea is civil liability; a guilty plea can be used against someone in a lawsuit.
The university continues to investigate the circumstances that led to Moore’s downfall and the culture of the athletic department, having spent more than $6 million on the outside legal review as of late March.
Reporting by Dave Boucher and Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
