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SOUTH OGDEN - Bob Geiger fought against accepting a plea bargain of trespass charges during a political campaign, but his attorney and the city prosecutor offered a deal he couldn't refuse.
They offered to split the cost of his $50 fine, Geiger said.
So Geiger recently pleaded guilty to an infraction of tampering with someone else's property rather than stand trial on two class B misdemeanor charges of trespass.
Geiger, a backer of Mayor Matthew Godfrey, was accused of removing political signs belonging to Ogden mayoral candidate Neil Hansen at a vacant home and replacing the signs with Godfrey's. Hansen and Geiger argued that after Hansen showed up, Geiger put back Hansen's signs.
Hansen, who lost the mayoral primary race, reported the incident to Ogden police, but the city prosecutor referred it to South Ogden to avoid a potential conflict of interest. South Ogden Prosecutor Ken Bradshaw could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Geiger said he believes that by paying half the fine, Bradshaw was sending a message that the case was not worth the court's time. He didn't dismiss the case, Geiger said, because of politics. Hansen is a state representative.
Hansen was not happy with the result. "It's a bad precedent for a prosecutor to step in and pay half the fine," Hansen said.
Hansen said the prosecutor did not consult him nor did the prosecutor suggest dropping the case. "I don't think who I am had anything to do with this," Hansen said.
"The whole incident would not have happened if Geiger had not tampered with other people's property," said Hansen.