Suspect says he can't pay for own lawyer; wife has 3

One half of a Davis County couple, indicted on charges of embezzling $4.3 million in federal education funds while both were working for the Davis County School District, told a federal magistrate judge on Tuesday that he cannot afford his own attorney.

During a brief hearing Tuesday, John Ross said he does not have enough money to supply his own attorney and asked for a court-appointed public defender. At the same time, court records show his wife, Susan Ross, has retained three private attorneys.

The situation prompted U.S. District Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells to question the couple. Wells asked if the money being paid to Susan Ross' attorneys was money jointly owned by the married couple. John Ross responded that it was not, but rather his wife's defense was being paid by an "independent source." Ross did not elaborate who or what that source was.

The move to new legal counsel comes after their previous attorney, Paul Gotay, was ordered removed from the case due to conflicts of interest and because he held $381,000 in his bank account, which was later frozen by the FBI.

Gotay, who accused federal prosecutors of maneuvering to have him removed from the case to put his former clients at a disadvantage, appealed the court's decision. On Feb. 15, Judge Dee Benson overruled Gotay's objections, effectively removing him from the case.

Federal prosecutors say while working as director of the Davis School District's Title I program, Susan Ross set up a shell company she used to produce pirated copies of textbooks. Through a second company, Ross sold those books to the school district for inflated prices, paid out of federal Title I funds. At the time, John Ross was head of federal grants for the school district.

Federal court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office also show Susan Ross was raking in an average of $768,000 annually from the school district between 2000 and 2004.

Federal agents have since seized assets, including two houses in Layton and Mountain Green, several vehicles and 10 bank accounts. Documents also show Susan Ross bought one of her sons a $320,000 home in South Weber with alleged ill-gotten funds.

Prosecutors say at this point they are taking the couple's word on the funding of Susan Ross' three new attorneys.

"We are accepting, at this point, what was represented in court," said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah.

Rydalch said she could not say if her office is investigating to determine if the source of the funds also stem from the embezzlement case.

A hearing has been scheduled for next Thursday to determine how the case will proceed.

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