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SALT LAKE CITY — New charges of communications fraud were filed Thursday against Timothy Lawson, the self-described "fixer" for former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
Lawson, 51, is charged in 3rd District Court with communications fraud, theft by deception and making false or inconsistent material statements, all second-degree felonies.
He already faces criminal charges in another case, including retaliating against witnesses, witness tampering, obstructing justice and bribery.
Lawson told the Social Security Administration's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review on April 13, 2012, that he had not worked since January of 2009, according to charging documents. In another hearing in 2013, he again allegedly stated he hadn't worked since January of 2009 while also stating in the same hearing that he works five hours a week.
Between February of 2014 and June of 2015, Lawson received more than $32,000 from the Social Security Administration, and his seven children received more than $54,000, according to court records.
Marc Jenson, however, told prosecutors that he paid Lawson $120,000 in 2009 for consultant work, according to the charges. In other court documents, prosecutors have said that money was paid for access to Shurtleff.
Furthermore, in his "self-employment information sheet," Lawson stated that he worked 40 to 50 hours a week from January 2009 to May 2010, with the exception of three months, for a company that tried to get funding for a Hovercraft project in the Marshall Islands, according to the charges.
Jenson was acquitted in January of four counts of communications fraud and four counts of money laundering. He was accused of not disclosing his criminal past when he asked investors to buy million-dollar memberships to an exclusive ski and golf resort he was developing. Jenson is also a key figure in the criminal cases against former Utah Attorneys General Shurtleff and John Swallow.
Lawson was also the CEO and founder of New Grains Gluten Free Bakery LLC since 2010 and "routinely conducted financial business and management functions for the bakery," the charges state.
Lawson's attorney, Ron Yengich, said Thursday that his client has said he is not guilty of the charges.
"He maintains his innocence. They told us they were going to do this. I guess we'll just have to see what their theory is," he said of prosecutors. "We intend to defend them along with the other cases they filed in the past."
Prosecutors say Lawson used his friendship with Shurtleff to influence and intimidate others with aggressive tactics, even allegedly telling one businessman he was like "Porter Rockwell and that he took care of things" for Shurtleff. Rockwell was known as LDS Church founder Joseph Smith's bodyguard.
