SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A former Utah attorney general played a key role in a bribery scheme at the state’s top law enforcement office that went well beyond the kind of relationships allowed between elected officials and campaign donors, prosecutors said Wednesday during closing arguments in his trial.
John Swallow received luxury beach vacations, gifts that included use of a fancy houseboat with a helicopter pad, and campaign donations from fraudsters and businessmen in exchange for favorable treatment, Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Fred Burmester told the jury.
He showed a photo of Swallow at a pool resort with businessmen from whom he is accused of taking bribes.
“This is a picture of corruption,” Burmester said.
The closings came before a courtroom packed with Swallow’s family and friends and other onlookers and capped off a three-week trial tied to one of the highest-profile scandals in state history. Swallow is charged with nine counts, including bribery, evidence tampering and obstruction of justice.
Defense attorneys are set to give their closing argument later Wednesday. Swallow’s lawyer, Scott Williams, contends that the case is a politically motivated smear campaign and that prosecutors are twisting the facts to fit the story they want to tell.
The former top lawman formed part of a three-prong team that carried out the scheme with business people from industries such as payday lending and multilevel marketing, Burmester said.
Swallow worked at the behest of his predecessor, former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, and alongside Tim Lawson, a businessman who had been investigated by the office, he said. Swallow handled the finances, while Lawson interfered with criminal cases by intimidating witnesses and working as a go-between for Shurtleff and a businessman facing fraud charges, prosecutors said.
Swallow and Shurtleff were arrested in 2014 after authorities said they hung a virtual “for sale” sign on the door of the state’s top law enforcement office.
Shurtleff, who served as attorney general for more than a dozen years, had his charges dismissed last year. A prosecutor cited infighting between agencies in the sprawling probe.
Lawson had pleaded not guilty to charges of obstructing justice, witness retaliation and other crimes before he died in 2016.
The jury hearing Swallow’s case is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday afternoon.