Shurtleff exonerated, but questions and large debts still remain


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SALT LAKE CITY — Corruption charges against former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff have been dismissed, but he still faces shattered public trust and reputation, questions about the fate of his successor and former co-defendant, and years of staggering legal fees that must be paid.

Years of allegations, investigation and legal maneuvering ended abruptly Wednesday when 3rd District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills signed the state's motion to dismiss the charges filed two years ago stemming from allegations that date back to his time in office.

Now, the former three-term Republican is trumpeting his exoneration and pointing fingers at what he called a deliberately disparaging campaign by investigators, even as the case continues against the man who was accused alongside him, ex-Attorney General John Swallow.

"For three years now, I have been absolutely proclaiming my innocence that these charges were misfiled, that they're based on false information, that what people have been reading and hearing in the news media is all a false narrative," Shurtleff told KSL Newsradio's Doug Wright on Thursday.

Shurtleff faced five felony charges — three counts of accepting gifts, and one each of bribery to dismiss a criminal proceeding and obstruction of justice — and two misdemeanors accusing him of obstructing justice and official misconduct.

Swallow remains charged with 11 felonies and two misdemeanors, including racketeering, bribery, evidence tampering, misuse of public money and falsifying government records. He has pleaded not guilty, and a trial date is not set. His attorney did not respond to phone calls Thursday.

The two men were initially charged together after a nearly two-year state and federal investigation. The cases were later split and half the counts against Shurtleff were later dismissed.

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Shurtleff and Swallow were accused in a pay-for-play scheme in which at least two wealthy Utah businessmen later charged with fraud have said the two men traded favors or shook them down for money in exchange for preferential treatment by the attorney general's office.

Shurtleff reiterated his claim Thursday that the allegations against him are false, based on "lies by some people I put in prison."

'It's over'

Throughout the saga, Shurtleff has vocally proclaimed his innocence. Shurtleff told the Deseret News on Thursday he is limited for now from saying all he'd like to about the closed case while loose ends remain regarding his legal fees and his ongoing cooperation with Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings, the prosecutor in his case.

While the dismissal is not part of any formal agreement to drop the charges, Shurtleff said a memo documenting what his cooperation with Rawlings might look like is being drafted, including details about his willingness to testify if needed. That could include testifying in the case against Swallow, he said, though he has not been notified whether he is considered a witness.

"I have always been cooperative, and I will. If I am called upon to testify about anything, I will do so truthfully and openly," he said.

Shurtleff promised a tell-all interview on "The Doug Wright Show" sometime next week and said he will answer questions from the public.

Rawlings said the scope of the public corruption case is broader and deeper than people know.

"With the significant assistance of Mr. Shurtleff, the state of Utah intends to explore what other entities and agencies have determined to ignore," he said.

Rawlings said he, in fact, has an email from one of those entities imploring him to back off at least one of the most significant areas where Shurtleff could "valuably assist."

The latest move by Shurtleff and his attorneys in his long, legal chess game had been to file multiple motions asking the case be dismissed. Those filings argued that Shurtleff's rights to a speedy trial were being violated as the case dragged on, and claims that the Department of Justice — which also investigated Shurtleff and Swallow — hadn't turned over all of its findings.

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Rawlings filed his own motion to dismiss the case last week, echoing Shurtleff's concerns as well as a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding bribery, the inability to obtain key evidence from a federal investigation and concerns over whether Shurtleff could get a fair trial in the high-profile case. A day later, Rawlings released a memo blasting the DOJ for its handling of investigations into Shurtleff, Swallow and others.

Shurtleff praised Rawlings for his decision to drop the charges, calling it difficult but correct.

"I am grateful for an ethical prosecutor like Troy Rawlings," he said.

Neither side expected the decision by Hruby-Mills on Thursday and instead were preparing to argue their motions at a hearing next week. By opting to grant the state's motion rather than those filed almost a month earlier by Shurtleff's attorneys, the judge left Shurtleff, rather than taxpayers, on the hook for his own legal fees.

"We would have obviously greatly preferred that she grant our motions, but she granted his last night, and that means it's over," he said.

Shurtleff said he will now focus on how to confront the "terrible financial burden" his family now faces from three years worth of legal fees, a debt that reaches into "the high six figures."

Once a popular political figure and successful attorney, Shurtleff struggled to find a job since the charges were filed. Anyone he had a chance to work with, he said, backed away after a quick Google search.

"It has been a massive financial burden," he said. "We are basically bankrupt. We're barely getting by."

Shurtleff became emotional as he spoke with Wright about his family's support through uncertain times. They never doubted his innocence, he said, but they couldn't escape the fear he might end up behind bars.

Shurtleff also voiced appreciation for the support he received from complete strangers.

"I could be in a grocery parking lot or at an RSL game or just about anywhere, and people would come up out of the blue and tell me they didn't believe these charges and would thank me for my service," he said. "That kind of stuff kept me going."

Allegations

In 2009, Marc Sessions Jenson, a onetime millionaire businessman, hosted all-expenses paid trips for Shurtleff and Swallow at the upscale Pelican Hill resort in Newport Beach, California, shortly after he resolved criminal charges alleging he sold unregistered securities.

Jenson had entered a plea in abeyance in the case, a deal meant to keep him out of jail. The original deal negotiated by Shurtleff didn't require Jenson to pay any restitution and was subsequently rejected by a judge as being too lenient. It was amended to order Jenson pay $4.1 million.

Jenson was given a 10-year prison sentence in 2011 after he failed to make restitution payments. He was granted parole last fall.

The now-broke businessman beat new fraud and money laundering charges at a jury trial in January 2015, often becoming emotional on the witness stand as he evoked the names of Shurtleff and Swallow and rehashed the allegations against them.

Helen Redd, Jenson's attorney, said Thursday that her client isn't backing down from his story.

"Marc Jenson has been interviewed by numerous state and federal agencies over the past several years about his interactions with Mark Shurtleff, the Office of the Utah Attorney General, and many other people and entities. Mr. Jenson provided truthful testimony and the evidence to document that truthfulness," Redd said.

Shurtleff asserted Thursday that Jenson's claims were "nonsense," adding that he "never took or solicited a bribe."

He acknowledged, however, that he made a mistake by associating with Jenson.

"I maybe became somewhat arrogant, that I am not ever in a position to be tempted or bribed and what may look sketchy to someone. I know where I'm at and I know that I'm not going to do any of that. But by placing myself in a situation where it could look bad or give some liars like Marc Jenson opportunities to make false allegations against me, that's what's regrettable," Shurtleff said.

Jeremy Johnson — a St. George businessman who was accused by the federal government of money laundering, fraud and racketeering through his once profitable online business iWorks — also made claims about Shurtleff and Swallow.

Following a lengthy trial, a jury convicted Johnson in March of just eight of the 86 counts against him. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for making false statements to a bank. Prosecutors are expected to recommend he spend up to 22 years in federal prison.

Throughout the trial, Johnson was barred from bringing up his allegations against the former attorneys general.

Shurtleff had stayed in Johnson's lavish St. George home and jetted around in his private plane, according to investigators. Johnson, a former friend and donor to Shurtleff's political campaigns, claimed Swallow arranged for him to pay $600,000 to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to stave off an investigation by Federal Trade Commission into his company.

Johnson's allegations prompted a federal investigation, but the DOJ Public Integrity Section declined to file charges against Shurtleff and Swallow. Rawlings, who had been prosecuting Shurtleff's case, has acknowledged that his investigation into Shurtleff has led to him looking into Reid as well.

Rawlings said state prosecutors had no control over the federal agencies involved. But the question is: How much did those agencies control the state?

"Who was really calling the shots inside the United States Department of Justice, and was it really at the local level or back in Washington, D.C.?" he said.

John Swallow

The case against Swallow is being prosecuted by Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, who asserted last week that Swallow's charges are unique from Shurtleff's and will advance.

Scott Williams, Swallow's attorney, said he sees little material difference between the allegations against his client and Shurtleff's now-closed case.

Williams says in recent court filings that prosecutors violated Swallow's attorney-client privilege by improperly allowing themselves access to his emails. If those allegations don't convince the 3rd District Court to drop the case, "then we’ll address the inequality of the applications of the prosecution" of Shurtleff versus that of Swallow, Williams said Wednesday.

Shurtleff called the decision to charge him and Swallow together "wrong and politically motivated."

Though most the charges against Swallow come from the same allegations Shurtleff says are false, he stopped short of saying the case against Swallow is unfounded. Some of the charges, he said, deal with situations "I know nothing about."

Swallow worked as Shurtleff's chief fundraiser during his short-lived U.S. Senate campaign in 2009. Later that year, he joined Shurtleff's office as chief deputy and handpicked successor.

Swallow won election in 2012 and resigned 11 months into his first term amid federal and state investigations.

Contributing: Dennis Romboy

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