How much did it cost to defend Tom Welch and Dave Johnson in the federal government's failed Olympic bribery case?

Close to $12 million, a legal bill that now has been settled by the company that insured organizers of the 2002 Winter Games.

"The insurance company paid our legal fees," Johnson, who worked as Welch's deputy on both Salt Lake's Olympic bid and organizing committees, told the Deseret Morning News. "Our defense from beginning to end was just under $12 million."

Johnson's lawyer, Max Wheeler, said Thursday the amount attorneys actually ended up with was less.

"The carrier told us their total loss on the policy was, I think they said, $10 million, but that includes all the costs," Wheeler said. Almost half that amount, he said, went to defend the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and its employees during the government's investigation.

Federal prosecutors started building their case after allegations surfaced in late 1998 that leaders of Salt Lake's Olympic bid team attempted to buy the votes of International Olympic Committee members with more than $1 million in cash and gifts.

The investigation led to conspiracy, fraud and racketeering charges being filed against Welch and Johnson almost two years later. The pair were acquitted of all charges this past December.

U.S. District Judge David Sam threw out what he called the government's "misplaced prosecution" midway through the trial, questioning from the bench how much taxpayers' money had been spent on the case — an amount that has apparently not been calculated.

Lawyers for Welch and Johnson had their own financial concerns. A lot of the legal fees racked up over the years remained unpaid despite a 2001 agreement with National Union, the New York-based company insuring SLOC's corporate officers.

While Johnson had Wheeler and other Salt Lake-based attorneys defending him, Welch hired a high-profile Washington, D.C., law firm as well as a Brigham Young University law professor to represent him.

The agreement with the insurance company only covered costs incurred after the pair were indicted in 2000. It was reached after a failed attempt by the organizing committee to broker a deal that would have required Welch and Johnson to drop any legal claims against SLOC.

Both settled after the Games with the organizing committee for more than $1 million in lost earnings. Johnson was forced to resign from SLOC shortly after the scandal surfaced, and Welch, who had already left the organizing committee, lost a consulting contract.

The money no doubt helped them prepare for a trial ordered in 2003 by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. The appeals court overturned earlier rulings by Sam dismissing the charges.

After Welch and Johnson were acquitted, there was talk of going after the federal government to collect the unpaid fees. But Wheeler said they decided not to go that route.

"It's so difficult to do that, we just didn't want to get into it," he said.

The insurance company finally wrote a check, Wheeler said. "We got our money . . . ," he said. "We have no complaints. We had to scream and yell a bit, but we got it."

---

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com