A once-celebrated trainer and handler of cadaver-sniffing dogs pleaded guilty to federal charges that she planted bones and other evidence in cases she worked.
Sandra M. Anderson, 43, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that included obstruction of justice and making false statements.
The charges carry up to 30 years in prison. No sentencing date was set.
Prosecutors said Anderson faked evidence in several cases in Michigan and Ohio. They said she planted bones in search areas and used her own body fluids to stain a saw blade, coins and a piece of cloth.
“The defendant’s actions seriously undermined the ability of dedicated law enforcement officials to investigate crimes and bring those responsible to justice,” prosecutor R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement.
Anderson’s lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment. Anderson’s home telephone has been disconnected.
No one answered the phone at the Sanford-based Great Lakes Search and Rescue of Michigan K-9 Unit, the organization founded by Anderson.
Anderson and her dog Eagle, a Doberman-German shorthair pointer mix, were invited to Panama and Bosnia to look for victims of political repression, and to ground zero in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks.
They also were featured on TV’s “Unsolved Mysteries” after helping convict a Michigan biochemist of murdering and dismembering his wife.