Uintah trial postponed till 2007

VERNAL — The federal trial of a former Uintah County woman and a Duchesne County businessman accused of misusing federal funds for road projects has been postponed until early next year.

According to Melody Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City, the trial for former Uintah Special Service boss Kathryn Erickson, now of Idaho, and Gil Mitchell, of Roosevelt, has been rescheduled for Jan. 22 because of issues that have arisen with the attorneys for both the defense and the prosecution.

The four-day trial had been slated for this week, Sept. 25 - 28, but was delayed to give a new assistant U.S. attorney time to become familiar with the complex case. Erickson and Mitchell are charged with three federal counts of obstruction of justice.

The prosecuting attorney for the federal government has been called to active duty in Iraq. As of late last week, Rydalch said, a substitute had not been named. At the same time, Mitchell's attorney was "recently diagnosed with serious health issue requiring surgery," said Rydalch.

This is the second delay for the case in which Erickson and Mitchell are accused of wrongdoing involving payment of federal funds for road-construction projects in Uintah County in the late 1990s. Earlier this month, Erikson's attorney requested a two-week continuance due to a death in her family.

The government claims that dates on the road-project documents were changed to cover up wrongdoing and were meant to throw off a grand jury in the course of its investigation. The grand jury convened in August 2000 to examine accusations of bid-rigging and kickbacks on federally funded road projects handled by the Uintah County Special Service District.

Mitchell and Erikson were the only two indicted by the grand jury. Both have denied any wrongdoing. Whistle-blower lawsuits filed by Erikson in connection with the case have been dismissed.

---

E-mail: lezleewhiting@hotmail.com