(AP) — Two former Michigan health officials were charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of nine people who got Legionnaires’ disease during the Flint water crisis, as prosecutors revisiting how the city’s water system was contaminated with lead and bacteria also hammered a key adviser to ex-Gov. Rick Snyder with extortion and perjury crimes.

Snyder joined a parade of former state and local officials pleading not guilty in Genesee County courts. He’s facing misdemeanor charges of willful neglect of duty in Flint in a case that was filed Wednesday night, the first governor or former governor in Michigan’s 184-year history to face charges related to time in that office.

All charges stemmed from evidence presented to Judge David Newblatt, who served as a secret one-person grand jury. Special prosecutor Fadwa Hammoud of the attorney general’s office declined to offer details during a news conference but said Snyder had “failed to protect the health and safety” of Flint’s nearly 100,000 residents.

“There are no velvet ropes in our criminal justice system,” Hammoud said. “Nobody — no matter how powerful or well-connected — is above accountability when they commit a crime.”

Wearing a mask, Snyder, 62, said little during his brief hearing, which was conducted by video. He replied, “Yes, your honor,” when asked if he was living in Michigan. A conviction carries up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine upon conviction.

Defense attorney Brian Lennon called the case a “travesty.”

“These unjustified allegations do nothing to resolve a painful chapter in the history of our state,” Lennon said in a written statement. “Today’s actions merely perpetrate an outrageous political persecution.”

Former state health director Nick Lyon and former state medical executive Eden Wells were each charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Snyder, a Republican, was governor from 2011 through 2018. The former computer executive pitched himself as a problem-solving “nerd” who eschewed partisan politics and favored online dashboards to show performance in government. Flint turned out to be the worst chapter of his two terms due to a series of catastrophic decisions that will affect residents for years.

The indictment against Snyder alleges that he failed to check the “performance, condition and administration” of his appointees and protect Flint from disaster when he knew the threat. In 2014, a Snyder-appointed emergency manager, Darnell Earley, who was running the struggling, majority Black city, carried out a money-saving decision to use the Flint River for water while a pipeline from Lake Huron was under construction.

The corrosive water, however, was not treated properly and released lead from old plumbing into homes.

Despite desperate pleas from residents holding jugs of discolored, skunky water, the Snyder administration took no significant action until a doctor reported elevated lead levels in children about 18 months later.