The Latest: Not-guilty pleas by 3 newly charged in Flint

FLINT, Mich. – A criminal investigation of Flint’s lead-contaminated water turned to former key officials at City Hall on Tuesday as Michigan’s attorney general announced charges against four people accused of keeping residents on a contaminated system that caused the crisis.

Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose separately were state-appointed emergency managers in Flint in 2014-15 when the city was using the Flint River as a source of drinking water. Ambrose also served earlier as a financial adviser to the troubled town.

They were charged with four crimes, including conspiracy and misconduct in office. Howard Croft, Flint’s former public works director, and Daugherty Johnson, the former utilities director, were charged with conspiracy and false pretenses.

Not-guilty pleas have been entered by three of the four newly charged in the Flint water investigation.

Ambrose, Croft and Johnson briefly appeared in court Tuesday.

They’re all accused of keeping Flint on Flint River water and using a water treatment plant that wasn’t ready for service. The water wasn’t treated to control corrosion. As a result, lead leached from pipes and old fixtures.

Earley hasn’t appeared in court.