Former St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough was arrested for OWI in 2020, violated his bond conditions twice, and was arrested again in 2024. In January 2025, he received sobriety court, a five-year license revocation, and two days in jail. His bar license was suspended for two years. Judge Jeffrey Middleton admitted on the record he had noticed McDonough’s addiction for years and said nothing. Prosecutors love to prosecute everyone but their own.
It Starts in 2020
McDonough was arrested in May 2020 for drunk driving. He then violated his bond twice by purchasing alcohol. While some charges were dismissed, he was eventually sentenced to one year of probation. He didn’t learn from it, because he was arrested for drunk driving again in 2024.
In January 2025, after pleading guilty to the second conviction, McDonough was sentenced to Sobriety Court, lost his driver’s license for five years, and received two days in jail to “be served at a future date.” His bar license was suspended for two years after he reported the conviction to the Attorney Grievance Commission.
Judge Middleton Knew — and Said Nothing
The more troubling part of this case is not the sentence. It is what Judge Jeffrey Middleton said from the bench on the day of sentencing. Middleton stated openly that alcoholism is “a progressive, insidious thing” — and that he had noticed signs of McDonough’s addiction during his second and third terms in office. He said he tried to talk to McDonough about it “without much success.”
Middleton noticed. He said as much on the court record. He did not report it to any oversight body during those terms in office — not to the Attorney Grievance Commission, not to any bar accountability mechanism. The ethical responsibility to report misconduct existed during those years. It went unused. Meanwhile, Middleton has reportedly been quick to raise concerns about other officials in his jurisdiction. The inconsistency is the story.
A Tale of Two Justice Systems
Sobriety court is a legitimate diversion program and can be the right outcome. The problem is not that McDonough received it. The problem is who else receives it — and who doesn’t. Everyday people lose jobs, housing, and custody of children for first OWI offenses with no prior violations and no bond conditions breached. McDonough had two arrests, two bond violations, and years of prosecuting others for far less during his tenure.
Lawyers have a significant and well-documented substance abuse problem. For a profession that is supposed to self-police, the legal community is remarkably consistent about not reporting concerns involving peers. The data on attorney substance abuse has been available for years. The ethical obligation to report has been on the books for years. Neither fact changed how people around McDonough behaved while he served as a prosecutor.
Who protects the public from prosecutors? That question does not have a good answer right now. And McDonough’s case makes it harder to pretend that it does.
Sources and Documentation
Rita Williams, John McDonough: Michigan Prosecutor Caught Drunk Driving, Facing Gentle Accountability, Clutch Justice (Aug. 2, 2025), https://clutchjustice.com/2025/08/02/john-mcdonough-michigan-prosecutor-caught-drunk-driving-facing-gentle-accountability/.
Williams, R. (2025, August 2). John McDonough: Michigan prosecutor caught drunk driving, facing gentle accountability. Clutch Justice. https://clutchjustice.com/2025/08/02/john-mcdonough-michigan-prosecutor-caught-drunk-driving-facing-gentle-accountability/
Williams, Rita. “John McDonough: Michigan Prosecutor Caught Drunk Driving, Facing Gentle Accountability.” Clutch Justice, 2 Aug. 2025, clutchjustice.com/2025/08/02/john-mcdonough-michigan-prosecutor-caught-drunk-driving-facing-gentle-accountability/.
