Anthony Joseph Veach
By: Brian Wells | C&G Newspapers | Published September 12, 2025
MACOMB COUNTY — A case that has taken more than a decade to reach its conclusion ended with a sentencing.
Anthony Joseph Veach was sentenced after pleading no contest to three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (relationship) related to multiple accusations of sexually assaulting a family member who was 14 and 15 years old in Warren, Eastpointe and Sterling Heights.
Veach’s plea, which was entered in July, guarantees that he will remain imprisoned for a term of years and be subject to lifetime electronic monitoring and mandatory lifetime registration on the sex offender registry, according to a press release from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.
Veach was sentenced Aug. 27 in front of Circuit Court Judge Joseph Toia. Terms of his sentencing agreement meant Veach will serve 11 to 25 years on each charge, with sentences running concurrently, according to the press release.
“Although criminal sexual conduct - first degree (relationship) is punishable by any term of years up to life imprisonment, the sentencing agreement in this case falls squarely within the Michigan Sentencing Guidelines,” the press release states. “Given the nature of the offense and the applicable guidelines, a separate conviction would likely result in a comparable term of incarceration.”
Court records from the 41-A District Court in Sterling Heights show charges originating in 2016. He was bound over to the 16th Circuit Court in Macomb County in February 2017. In November 2017, a jury convicted Veach on multiple charges of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which was appealed.
According to the press release, the issue of the court closing the courtroom without articulating the reasons on the record to allow a child to testify resulted in the Michigan Supreme Court reversing his conviction and ordering a new trial. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari — a request of a lower court to have a higher court review the case.
“This sentence brings long-awaited accountability after nearly a decade of litigation, including challenges that reached both the Michigan Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in a statement.
Veach’s attorney, Kenneth Vernier, declined to comment.