Ex-Nassar boss William Strampel set for early release from jail

William Strampel, the former dean of Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine who was convicted of charges related to the Larry Nassar scandal, is set for an early release from jail, court records show.

Sentenced on three separate counts, Strampel was slated to serve all of the jail time concurrently for a total of one year. He was the first MSU official to be convicted of charges stemming from the scandal.

According to Ingham County court records, he has been jailed since Aug. 7, 2019, and will be released on April 3, about four months early.

County sheriff's officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night on the early release.

Strampel was among the MSU officials charged as a result of a lengthy investigation led by special prosecutor William Forsyth.

He was convicted in June on two counts of willful neglect of duty linked to his supervision of Nassar and one count of misconduct in office related to inappropriate comments he made to female students. 

In August, Ingham Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk sentenced him to 11 months in the Ingham County Jail on the misconduct charge and a year in jail for each of the two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect, to be served concurrently.

Strampel's misconduct in office charge carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, while the misdemeanor neglect of duty charges both carried a year in jail.

Prosecutors have said Strampel, who was dean of MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine until 2018, allowed Nassar to see patients while the school investigated a 2014 sexual misconduct claim and did not ensure Nassar followed proper patient protocols in the wake of the probe.

At the August sentencing, Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark estimated roughly 45 people were abused by Nassar between the 2014 investigation and Nassar's 2016 firing.

Strampel also was accused of taking advantage of his role by making sexually explicit comments during professional meetings.

When Strampel retired from MSU, he signed an agreement that deprived him of emeritus status and other benefits typically awarded to high-level MSU officials when they retire.

The agreement, which sidestepped a drawn-out tenure revocation procedure, guaranteed health care coverage for Strampel and his wife, access to his 401(k) retirement savings plan and a settlement of $175,000 to make up for the salary he would have received during the tenure revocation proceedings. His salary at MSU was $217,903 a year.

In December, Attorney General Dana Nessel said Strampel had permanently surrendered his license to practice medicine and was ordered to pay a $35,000 fine to the state.