A federal court jury last week found a Roosevelt businessman and the former manager of the Uintah Special Service District each guilty of three felony counts for obstruction of justice.

The convictions of Gil Mitchell and Kathryn "Kate" Erickson stem from efforts by the pair to falsify special service district documents subpoenaed by a grand jury in January 2000.

The grand jury investigation was prompted by allegations of bid-rigging and kickbacks on federally funded road projects handled by the special service district in the late 1990s. The district is responsible for bidding out road improvement projects for Uintah County.

Mitchell, owner of Ned B. Mitchell Construction, and Erickson, a former Vernal resident who headed the special service district until she was fired in 2001, were the only ones charged criminally following the five-year grand jury investigation.

During last week's trial, federal prosecutors proved that Mitchell and Erickson falsified three contracts for small paving and gravel-hauling projects before submitting the records to the grand jury. According to prosecutors, the pair conspired together to change the dates and modify the contracts to support records of payments by the district to Mitchell Construction in 1999 and 2000.

An investigation into improprieties determined that two of the contracts Mitchell was being paid for had actually been terminated in 1998 and the third had been awarded to another company.

Cheri McCurdy, the current executive office manager for the service district and the key witness for the prosecution, testified that when the grand jury subpoenaed district records in late January 2000, Erickson's behavior changed.

"Kate's disposition changed; she became angry and frustrated," McCurdy said. "She would lock the office doors. She would not answer the phone; she wouldn't return messages."

McCurdy also testified that she was present when Erickson and Mitchell falsified one of the documents in question.

"I observed Kate Erickson comparing a hand-written change order and then saw them change the order to extend the Hamaker Bottom contract with Mitchell Construction," McCurdy told jurors. "This (contract with Mitchell) had terminated in December 1998."

McCurdy, who was the district's office secretary in 2000 when the document was falsified, said the contract was given to her to copy and "it was put into the file." She reported the incident to Uintah County sheriff's detectives and later to FBI agents investigating alleged misuse of federal road funds.

Uintah Special Service District board member Merlin Sinfield, Vernal, testified that the board had complete faith in Erickson and did not take time to review the paperwork she presented for payment when members signed checks to Mitchell Construction.

"We had a lot of trust (in Erickson). We were very confident in her," Sinfield testified when he took the stand last Wednesday.

Erickson's defense attorney, Wendy Lewis, suggested to jurors that her client was targeted by McCurdy because she wanted her job. And Mitchell's attorney told the jury the work done by his client's construction company was completed in good faith and that as far as Mitchell knew, all payments he received from the special service district were justified.

Sentencing for Mitchell and Erickson is slated for April. Each count carries a possible maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

---

E-mail: ubsnews@ubtanet.com