Former Iron County GOP chairman faces new domestic violence-related charges

CEDAR CITY — The former treasurer and chairman of the Iron County Republican Party, who is facing federal charges accusing him of embezzling $1.9 million and using the money, in part, to gamble, is now facing additional charges in connection to an alleged domestic violence-related offense while awaiting trial.

Blake Floyd Cozzens, 35, of Cedar City, was charged Tuesday in 5th District Court with kidnapping, a second-degree felony; and assault, domestic violence in the presence of a child and damaging a phone, all class B misdemeanors.

In March, he was charged in U.S. District Court in Utah with wire fraud and bank fraud. He was originally arrested on Jan. 15 and charged two days later in state court with theft and 10 counts of unlawful dealings by a fiduciary, second-degree felonies.

Cozzens, who resigned from his GOP position in 2018, is accused of embezzling $1.9 million from two accounts belonging to the Cedarbend Homeowners Association that he manages through his business, Stress Free Property Management, according to state court documents.

He is also accused of defrauding JPMorgan Chase Bank by obtaining seven cashier's checks totaling more than $1.4 million. He then "presented the cashier's checks to casinos in Las Vegas in exchange for markers, or credits, to gamble. After obtaining casino markers and gambling, (he) reported to banks that he had lost the checks, causing the banks to stop payments to the casinos," according to charging documents.

On April 17, a federal judge set conditions for Cozzens' release from custody pending his trial.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed Tuesday, Utah Highway Patrol troopers in July "responded to reports of a domestic violence incident" on I-15. "During this investigation, the troopers determined this to be a verbal fight only, and no law enforcement action was taken that night."

But in August, the alleged victim in that incident, Cozzens' wife, contacted troopers saying she had additional information she now wanted to share. She said she and Cozzens had gotten into a fight while driving on I-15, and "she took her phone out and began to film Blake when he took her phone and threw it in the back seat," the warrant states.

When the woman told him she was going to call 911 and tried to retrieve her phone, Cozzens "grabbed her right wrist and twisted it, which caused her pain," according to the warrant.

When she told Cozzens to pull over so she could get her phone, he got off the freeway at the next exit, let her out of the car, but then drove off, the warrant states. By the time the wife had flagged down a passerby for help, Cozzens had turned around and attempted to "put her back in the vehicle by force while she told him that she did not want to go inside the car because he was going to hurt her again. (She) said that she told Blake a few times that she did not want to go inside of the car, but he still forced her into the car," according to the warrant.

All of this occurred while the woman's 3-year-old daughter was in the car, according to court documents. After she was forced back into the vehicle, the woman said that Cozzens told her "that they would take her daughter and deport her because she is not a U.S. citizen."

A warrant for Cozzens' arrest was signed by a judge on Thursday. A hearing has been scheduled for Monday in federal court to review Cozzens' alleged pretrial release violations and to consider his release.

Related topics