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Private eye who exposed DA's lack of business license didn't have one himself
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Posted: 5:49 PM- The private investigator who uncovered proof that Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller ran a private law practice without a business license was working without one himself.

Today, Springdale-based investigator Todd Gabler acted to correct that.

Gabler said he contacted his lawyer after a conversation with The Salt Lake Tribune . He decided to file for the business license with the Town of Springdale, near St. George.

Town Clerk Fay Cope confirmed he had visited her offices and picked up an application. It had not been filed by 5 p.m. today.

Said Gabler: "I'm not a public official. I didn't lie [when asked] about this, and I've corrected the error."

The private investigator made headlines this week when he shared documents with news-media outlets about his investigation of Miller.

An unnamed client had hired Gabler in August 2007 to investigate the D.A.'s personal life and business practices.

He rifled through Miller's trash, attached a tracking device to her car's bumper and documented party guests leaving her South Jordan home.

While he did not have a business license, records show Gabler has held, since 1999, a private investigator's license with the Utah Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Criminal Identification. There are no disciplinary blemishes on his record, and no complaints have been filed against him, according to BCI agent Phil Leiker.

Gabler said he works out of a mobile unit and doesn't have an office. That, he said, led him to believe he didn't need a business license.

Much of the Miller investigation was conducted after his unnamed client ran out of money in September, Gabler said. But the investigator continued the surveillance on his own until earlier this month.

"Just because I'm not charging the client, that doesn't mean I don't have an obligation to that client," Gabler said, adding that his investigation of Miller is now closed.

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