Swallow, Shurtleff arrested, face 23 counts and could end up doing 30 years in prison
Charges » Both men charged with soliciting bribes, tampering with evidence and more.
By Robert Gehrke, Bob Mims And Marissa Lang | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published 5 hours ago • Updated 25 minutes ago
In the culmination of the most sweeping political scandal in Utah history, former Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff were arrested early Tuesday and charged with a combined 23 counts that could total 30 years each in prison.
The two men were taken into custody at their homes without incident Tuesday morning and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. Bail was set at $250,000 each. Shurtleff was released about 11:45 a.m. Swallow was released about 12:15 p.m.
Swallow, who was driven from office in December less than a year into his first term, was charged with 11 felonies and two misdemeanors, including multiple counts of receiving or soliciting bribes, accepting gifts, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct.
Shurtleff, who served 12 years before making Swallow his handpicked Republican successor, was charged with 10 felony counts, including receiving or soliciting bribes, accepting gifts, tampering with witnesses and evidence, and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct.
The charges come at the end of two years of investigative work by state and federal authorities, as well as the Utah Legislature and the lieutenant governor’s office. Mary Rook, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City office, said investigators will continue to pursue information uncovered during the probe.
"This has been a complex, nuanced, multiple investigation. ... Multiple leads continue to be investigated [and] the investigation remains active," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. "We have filed what we think are appropriate and minimal charges. We could have filed more, but we chose at this time to just file what we did."
Gill, a Democrat, denied that there was any political motivation to the probe, noting he worked alongside Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings, a Republican, investigators from the state Department of Public Safety and the FBI. He also cited independent probes by a bipartisan Utah House committee and the Republican-led lieutenant governor’s office.
"We are all public servants," Gill said. "We took an oath to uphold the law and do our jobs professionally and competently. … There is absolutely no political motivation."
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58185969-78/felonies-degree-arrested-shurtleff.html.csp
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