Ex AG Mark Shurtleff filed misconduct complaints against federal, state agents


1 photo
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has filed misconduct complaints against federal and state agents who led the public corruption investigation that resulted in criminal charges against him in 2014.

Filed with the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility on Nov. 7, 2016, the complaint names FBI agents Michelle Pickens and Jon Isakson and Utah Department of Public Safety investigator Scott Nesbitt.

Shurtleff also filed a complaint against Nesbitt with the state public safety department's Office of Professional Standards.

Pickens headed the FBI's public corruption unit in Salt Lake City, which handled the investigation into Shurtleff and his successor, John Swallow. Isakson was the lead federal agent in the case, while Nesbitt, who was cross-deputized as a U.S. marshal, was the top state investigator.

The complaint is noted in a Dec. 1, 2016, cover letter Shurtleff's lawyer, Richard Van Wagoner, sent to the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General. The letter references two enclosures: a copy of the complaint to the justice department's Office of Professional Responsibility and the transcript of an interview Shurtleff did with the state public safety department.

However, the federal complaint apparently having gone through two Department of Justice offices now resides with the FBI. The FBI declined to comment.

Utah Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Marissa Villasenor Cote confirmed the agency received a complaint and has talked to Shurtleff, but she declined to talk about its status.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office filed felony criminal charges against Shurtleff and Swallow as co-defendants in July 2014 after a joint federal-state investigation. The case was later separated, with Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings taking the Shurtleff prosecution.

Rawlings dropped the charges against Shurtleff last summer, partly because he said the federal government wouldn't provide what he believed to be crucial evidence. A 3rd District Court jury acquitted Swallow last week on eight felony and one misdemeanor counts, including racketeering, bribery and tampering with evidence.

After being released as a potential witness in the Swallow trial, Shurtleff let loose on the agents who investigated him and Swallow.

Nesbit and Isakson "perjured themselves in search warrant affidavits time and time again," Shurtleff told reporters outside the courtroom last month. "So the question is, how do you believe anything they say, any charges they brought, anything that was part of this case?"

Shurtleff said he has transcripts and recordings of interviews to show agents misconstrued witness statements to obtain search warrants.

"For a law enforcement officer swearing to a judge that something is true in their statement when you can prove simply by looking at the transcript and listening to the video is not true, that’s perjury," he said.

In trying to get the Shurtleff case dismissed last year, Van Wagoner contended the agents' search warrant affidavits contained dozens of "material omissions, misleading statements and outright mistruths."

Nesbitt relied heavily on information from Isakson or others from the FBI, which was investigating Shurtleff and Swallow before the state joined the case, according to court documents. State investigators became involved after the justice department's Public Integrity Section decided that charges weren't warranted against the two former attorneys general.

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Dennis Romboy

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button