Prosecutor gets election bribery case

FARMINGTON — The political hot potato that has become the criminal investigation into bribery allegations in the state treasurer's race is being handed off to the Salt Lake City prosecutor.

In a joint statement released Friday, Weber County Attorney Mark DeCaria and Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said they have asked Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill to review the case.

"While criminal charges may be filed, none of the activities revealed by the investigation rise to the level of felony behavior," the prosecutors said.

As a city prosecutor, Gill only files misdemeanor charges.

"I think the work that both Troy and Mark have done is a thorough investigation," Gill said Friday. "The investigation is taking its natural course and hence it is in our jurisdiction."

DeCaria, a Democrat, and Rawlings, a Republican, were appointed special prosecutors to investigate allegations of bribery in the state treasurer's race. During the campaign season, Richard Ellis accused Mark Walker of offering to let him keep his job as deputy state treasurer with a substantial raise if he'd drop out of the race. Ellis won the GOP primary and was ultimately elected.

Walker has denied any wrongdoing, saying that he only said state employees would keep their jobs if he won the November election. His attorney, Jim Bradshaw, has been in talks with the special prosecutors for a deal to plead to a misdemeanor election law violation and testimony against others who may have been involved.

"We're continuing to have discussions and Mark Walker is continuing to cooperate in their investigation," Bradshaw told the Deseret News on Friday.

The two county attorneys were appointed to investigate the case by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who extricated himself from the issue after endorsing Walker in the race. Since then, the two sought to take the case to a specially convened state-level grand jury.

Contacted by the Deseret News, both DeCaria and Rawlings declined to speak about whether any grand jury proceedings would still go forward, noting state laws on the secrecy of such proceedings. The two prosecutors are expected to review the case together with Gill next week, noting that protocol dictates they take it to his office.

"We're going to screen this matter for any criminal charges," Gill said, adding that he has begun reviewing the case file. "It's a very thorough investigation."

"I'm very happy now that this case is going to be moving forward to an appropriate end with a jurisdiction that's going to assist in screening it," DeCaria said. "We're not ducking out of this. We're still going to be a part of the case."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com