Dale Jernstadt sold his farm property to a Chinese Communist Party-linked battery company for 11 times the assessed value, court records show.
Jernstadt, who was on the Green Charter Township board at the time, but was later recalled, entered into a purchase agreement in 2023 for $2 million, he said in a court deposition.
Mecosta County property records show Jernstadt has a 72-acre parcel at the corner of 18 Mile Road and 220th Avenue in Green Charter Township. According to the county Register of Deeds, he obtained a mortgage on the property in 2012 for $180,000.

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In 2022, the assessed value was roughly $180,000, property records show.
Records also show another transaction on September 23, 2021 involving the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development:

Documents from the Register of Deeds indicate he sold the development rights to MDARD through December 31, 2027, and must obtain permission from the state agency to sell the property for a use other than farming.
The trustee’s land makes up 17.6 percent of the 408 acres Gotion is acquiring in Green Charter Township. The company was seeking an additional 115 acres in Big Rapids Charter Township until resistance developed over the company’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
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In his deposition related to a suit between Gotion and Green Charter Township, Jernstadt confirmed “the whole thing is a hay field,” and it sold for $2 million to the Chinese battery company.
Jernstadt has not closed on the property and to date has only received some funds to maintain the deal. His vote was key to ensuring the project was approved.
When confronted by NewsNation in 2023, Jernstadt didn’t want to talk about the allegation that he sold his property, then indicated there was more than he was letting on:
Watch as Green Charter Twp Trustee Dale Jernstadt is confronted over his plan to sell his farm property to CCP Gotion.
His defense is he “didn’t go looking for it.” pic.twitter.com/HYY3YvSF50
— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) April 14, 2023
“Do you have a contract with Gotion involving your land?” the NewsNation reporter asked.
“No comment,” Jernstadt replied.
“Did you sell Gotion your land?”
“I don’t know yet,” Jernstadt said.
When pressed, he added, “I didn’t go looking for it.”
The Midwesterner previously exclusively reported Gotion High-Tech, the China-based battery maker, is required to grow the CCP within the grassroots of the company.
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Gotion’s founder, Zhen Li has close ties with the CCP. His son is CEO of Gotion, Inc., the “American” subsidiary frequently referenced by Chapman and others pushing the project.