Former Eagle Mountain mayor to stand trial

AMERICAN FORK, Utah (AP) -- Former Eagle Mountain Mayor Brian Olsen will stand trial on seven charges that he misused city money.

Fourth District Judge David Mortensen ruled Friday that Olsen would be tried beginning Feb. 15. Olsen later pleaded not guilty to the seven third-degree-felony counts that alleged he requested reimbursement and cashed checks for city business trips never taken.

The charges were filed more than a year ago, and in early November Olsen requested all charges be dismissed.

His attorney, Ron Yengich, said Eagle Mountain lacked specific rules governing the city budget.

Without a specific city ordinance, Yengich said the county prosecutor couldn't prove Olsen misused public funds.

There was no policy setting the appropriate way to deal with reimbursements, overpayments, repayments or advance payments, Yengich said.

"There has to be a process in order to determine what's authorized. There was no crime this man can be bound over," he said.

Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander said it is not necessary for Eagle Mountain to pass ordinances prohibiting things like a budget officer using city money for a vacation because "it's a given."

Grunander contends that, despite Olsen's then-role as the city's chief budget officer, the former mayor did not have free rein over the public's cash.

"He used money he wasn't entitled to. Those funds belonged to the city. They were to be spent on behalf of the city for legitimate city expenses," Grunander said.

Grunander contends that Olsen attempted to cover a paper trail, suggesting he knew he had done something wrong and was covering his tracks.

The prosecutor also cited several problems with out-of-town meetings for which Olsen requested reimbursements. The former mayor didn't register for two meetings, one was never held and he sent someone in his place for another.

Mortensen ruled that Olsen must stand trial because he cashed some travel-reimbursement checks days after those meetings took place.

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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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