SALT LAKE CITY — A federal jury convicted former St. George multi-millionaire Jeremy Johnson of eight charges Friday but acquitted him of 78 counts of an 86-count indictment filed against him.

Prosecutors accused him and two business partners of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering stemming from Johnson's once booming Internet business, iWorks. But in the end, Johnson was convicted only on charges of giving false statements to a bank.

Both the U.S. Attorney's Office and Johnson claimed victory in light of the split decision, while the accusations against each other continued to fly.

"I do feel vindicated. Whatever the government is saying, I don't believe it was a win for them. They spent millions of dollars and untold resources on a case where there was no person or entity that lost any money. And if these are the biggest problems that we have in our state, then I guess we're doing pretty great," said Johnson, who is a key figure in the criminal cases against former Utah Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff.

"I feel like the jury had an extremely difficult job and that they did the best that they could."

The case against Johnson was filed nearly five years ago, and was capped off with a seven-week trial that included a week of jury deliberations.

The eight-man, three-woman jury also found one of Johnson's former associates, Ryan Riddle, guilty of just six of the 56 counts filed against him. Like Johnson, those charges were giving false statements to a bank.

A second business associate, Scott Leavitt, was acquitted of all 86 charges against him. His family members broke into tears as the verdicts were announced.

Still, U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber was quick to point out Friday that Johnson is now a convicted felon.

"Jeremy Johnson is a convicted con man. He's a convicted fraudster. Eight federal felony convictions," Huber said. "White collar criminals envelope themselves in an enclave of self-justification. White collar criminals circle themselves in a mythology of their own devising. Jeremy Johnson is a classic white collar criminal. He finds himself today a convicted criminal, a convicted federal fraudster."

Johnson, however, disagreed with the con man label, noting that no person or business lost any money except for himself.

"He's entitled to call me whatever he wants. So I won't personally disparage him, even though we disagree," Johnson said.

Attorney Marcus Mumford, who represented Leavitt, had a stronger reaction to Huber's comments.

"If Mr. Huber is calling him a con man, I'm going to ask, who's conning who? Because every one of those fraud charges was not guilty. And who spent all the time and energy keeping evidence out of the courtroom? Who was the one being evasive?" Mumford asked. "We had witness after witness testify how the government had threatened them, and had shaped their testimony by the threats that were made. So I say, who's conning who?"

Johnson founded what was once a booming Internet business, iWorks. Federal prosecutors alleged that iWorks became crippled as waves of credit card chargebacks hit the company, landing the business and Johnson on the Terminated Merchant File list, essentially a blacklist shared between card processors.

To keep the business operating and the money flowing, Johnson, Leavitt and Riddle began wrapping iWorks in what would ultimately become 37 shell corporations and 281 merchant accounts. The three men used the names of family, friends and employees to set up the accounts, a strategy that prosecutors say was meant to defraud Wells Fargo bank and CardFlex, the card processing company iWorks used.

But Johnson, who defended himself throughout the trial, told jurors he had provided a guarantee that his personal wealth was backing the accounts, making it clear to Wells Fargo and CardFlex exactly who they were working with. Representatives at CardFlex, he claimed, were not only aware of the plan to prop iWorks up with numerous shell corporations, but consulted with him about it.

'No immediate impact' on A.G. criminal cases

Johnson and Leavitt are potential key witnesses in the cases against Shurtleff and Swallow. The former attorneys general are accused of trading favors during their time in office for preferential treatment. During Swallow's first week on the job, Johnson accused him of helping to set up a $600,000 payment to enlist then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, in hopes of ending a Federal Trade Commission investigation into iWorks.

State investigations ultimately resulted in criminal charges against Swallow, some based on Johnson's allegations. Both former attorneys general have maintained their innocence.

Johnson was asked outside the courthouse Friday if he believes the cases against Swallow and Shurtleff affected his case.

"I would like to know that answer to that myself, quite honestly. I have no ill will to either of the former attorneys general and I wish them the best," he said.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings, who is prosecuting the Shurtleff case, released a statement Friday saying the federal court's decision would have "no immediate impact" on the state cases.

"What will have a pronounced impact on state of Utah cases is whether the Department of Justice (meaning the United States Attorney’s Office in both Utah and Washington D.C.) cooperates, like the FBI has done to a significant degree, in providing responsive material to all remaining requests for documents made by both the state of Utah and defense counsel for Mr. Mark L. Shurtleff," Rawlings said.

Mixed reaction from co-defendants

Riddle, who acted as his own attorney during the trial, was also pleased with the verdict.

"We feel like we did the best that we could do. And we feel like under the circumstances with the evidence that was presented, the jurors did the best that they could do," he said.

Mumford said it was a bittersweet victory for his client, Leavitt, who was acquitted on all charges.

"We told the court and we told everyone who would listen from the very inception of this case against Mr. Leavitt that these were false charges. They were brought on questionable circumstances as part of a politically motivated effort to get these defendants. We're very pleased with the verdict," he said.

"Let's be very clear about it, the government destroyed him. The government destroyed him without any basis at all. And they will continue to do so until the people stand up and say 'no more.' I think you saw it in the courtroom, I mean, how many millions of dollars did they spend on this case?"

Mumford said not only the criminal case destroyed his client, but also the FTC seizure of all his assets.

"Mr. Leavitt ran a legitimate payroll company, independent of anything that iWorks did. And the government went in and seized that without any due process, without any opportunity to challenge it, and we're sitting here now over six years later and his money is still tied up in some receivership that they set up before they even brought these charges," he said.

Mumford believes Johnson and Riddle will appeal the new convictions against them.

"I would challenge anyone to find the false statements that were allegedly made. They're not there," he said.

Sentencing, appeal and possible jail time

Johnson and Riddle are scheduled to be sentenced on June 20. U.S. District Judge David Nuffer warned them that "sentencing is a complicated process" and held up a large book in court on sentencing guidelines. The potential sentences range from probation to up to 30 years in federal prison.

The judge will take into consideration several factors when deciding, including the conduct of Johnson and Riddle, obstruction of justice allegations, who orchestrated the alleged events, and more.

Federal prosecutors asked Nuffer to order Johnson and Riddle held in custody until their sentencing. Huber said Johnson's behavior throughout the case has contributed to its "circus-like atmosphere."

"Our prosecutors, from early in this case, were subjected to personal attacks that were unjustified," he said.

Prosecutors noted that Johnson made comments about them on social media and they accused him of trying to enter the building that houses the U.S. Attorney's Office after hours and texting a witness during the trial. Huber called those alleged actions "highly, highly unusual" and said he hopes the judge will address them at a later date.

Johnson disagreed with the allegations that he is a "dangerous" person.

"They might be saying I'm a danger to their reputation," he quipped.

As for the allegation that he tried to enter the prosecutors' building, Johnson said his own office is just a block away. "And they do have one of the better taco stands in front of their office. So I guess if that counts in front of their office as loitering, I have purchased $2 tacos there," he said.

Although Johnson acted as his own attorney, he had others, such as attorney Greg Skordas, as standby counsel. Skordas said Friday that Johnson is not a flight risk.

"(Prosecutors are) upset at him. He filed a lot of things they don't like. But bottom line is he's as broke as a joke. He's got nowhere to go. His family is all here. He's surrendered virtually everything. He's not a flight risk or a risk to anybody else between now and the time he's sentenced," he said.

Nuffer set a special hearing to discuss the matter of detention pending sentencing for April 1. Until then, he allowed Johnson and Riddle to remain free with the condition they be required to wear ankle monitors.

Johnson is scheduled to turn around and defend himself in a parallel civil trial regarding iWorks in Reno set to begin July 19.

Contributing: McKenzie Romero

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