More charges filed against Iron sheriff

CEDAR CITY — Iron County Sheriff David "Dude" Benson awoke Tuesday morning knowing he would be in a 5th District courtroom for an initial appearance on one third-degree felony count of obstruction of justice.

By the end of the day, the Utah Attorney General's Office had filed seven additional charges against the 37-year-old sheriff — five of them felonies.

Benson's attorney, Ed Brass of Salt Lake City, said the Cedar City native was advised of all charges during his court appearance. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 13. Cedar City attorney Jim Park also will represent Benson.

Among the new counts were a third-degree felony count of tampering with a witness; a third-degree felony count of misuse of public money; a second-degree felony count of theft; a third-degree felony count of stealing, destroying or mutilating public records by custodian; and a second-degree felony count of misuse of public money or an alternative count of unlawful dealing of property by a fiduciary.

Benson also was charged with a class A misdemeanor count of obstruction of justice and a class B misdemeanor count of theft. All the counts originated from separate incidents, according to the charging document filed in 5th District Court in Cedar City.

The charges stem from an ongoing investigation by the Attorney General's Office into missing county funds.

Iron County Commissioner Gene Roundy said Tuesday more than $15,000 was unaccounted for, far more than the original estimate of $2,900 auditors determined was missing.

Brass said he has yet to hear from any prosecutorial attorneys on the amount of funds missing or seen any police reports on the matter.

Benson earlier placed himself on paid voluntary administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the missing funds. Iron County commissioners named detective Mark Gower as interim sheriff, a move Benson reversed when he returned to work for one day on June 30.

Commissioners reinstated Gower the next day after the Attorney General's Office filed the first felony charge against Benson on July 1. Benson was again placed on paid administrative leave, this time by the commissioners.

Lt. Chuck Mitchell, the county's undersheriff, also has been on leave since April, leaving two weeks before Benson. Mitchell will remain on leave pending the outcome of the investigation, his attorney, Keith Barnes, said.

"Sheriff Benson's demeanor is good, especially for a guy whose lifelong dream was to be sheriff," Brass said. "He's remarkably positive."

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E-MAIL: nperkins@infowest.com