SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Utah State Bar is reviewing a complaint alleging misconduct by former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who has denied any wrongdoing.
The complaint, filed Jan. 16 by Salt Lake City real estate developer Paul Svendsen, says Shurtleff took gifts and trips from jailed businessman Marc Jenson, who had struck a plea deal that put him under the supervision of Shurtleff’s office.
Svendsen, also a self-described “recovering attorney,” maintains Jensen’s gifts and involvement with Shurtleff represent a conflict of interest and a serious breach of attorney ethics.
The bar’s Office of Professional Conduct responded to the complaint in February, saying it was conducting a preliminary probe and seeking evidence to support the allegations, The Salt Lake Tribune reported (https://bit.ly/1rv5gqg ).
Svendsen responded March 5 with several court filings in support of the complaint.
“The substantial amount of evidence available in this case is unusual because impermissible conflicts of interest are, by their very nature, entered into in private,” he wrote. “If the evidence offered here does not warrant a full investigation by the Office of Professional Conduct, it is unclear what level of evidence would ever suffice.”
Bar spokesman Sean Toomey declined to comment.
Shurtleff said Friday that he does not expect to be asked to respond to the allegations in the complaint.
Jenson’s attorney, Marcus Mumford, said he and his client have not been contacted by the bar to date.
According to an outside investigation the Utah attorney general’s office released Tuesday, Shurtleff’s behavior in Jenson’s case “defies explanation,” including meetings with attorneys and lobbyists advocating for Jenson while Shurtleff’s office pursued a fraud case against the businessman.
Investigators said in the report that Jenson’s advocates appeared to result in Shurtleff’s office offering a sweetheart plea deal in 2008, which a judge ultimately rejected.
Jenson was later ordered to pay $4.1 million and was jailed when he never did.
Shurtleff said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation released by Attorney General Sean Reyes was one-sided and based on lies from a convicted felon.
Shurtleff, a Republican, left office in January 2013 when he was succeeded by his chief deputy, John Swallow.
Swallow, also a Republican, left office late last year, citing the toll of multiple investigations into alleged misconduct. Among others, he was the subject of two complaints that the star bar dismissed last year.
In March, the state bar took the rare step of acknowledging it still has “an active investigation” of Swallow. The bar said it is additionally reviewing the results of a legislative investigation of Swallow.
Swallow has denied any wrongdoing.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltrib.com
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltrib.com
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