Federal grand jury indicts Duchesne County man

A Duchesne County businessman has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he falsified documents by altering dates on three change orders for road work.

Gil Mitchell was summoned last week to appear in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City on three counts of obstructing and impeding the due administration of justice. The date for his initial appearance is pending, according to court documents.

The three indictments allege that prior to submitting documents to the grand jury in August 2000, Mitchell falsified change orders for paving projects by modifying the dates on contracts between the Uintah Special Service District and Ned B. Mitchell Construction, Inc.

Mitchell is the second person charged in connection with the case which the government initiated in 2000 to examine the way the special service district and the county were allocating federal dollars for road projects.

Late last month, former Vernal resident Kathryn Erickson was charged with the same three felony counts that Mitchell now faces.

Erickson, now of Idaho, had worked as director of the special service district for four years until her termination in 2001.

A whistle-blower suit filed by Erickson against county officials which alleged misuse of funds and a host of other illegal activities in the late 1980s was recently dismissed by a federal judge, citing a lack of evidence. However, the judge ruled Erickson could pursue her wrongful termination claims.