Attorneys for the attorney general's office and Marc Sessions Jenson, 48, told 3rd District Judge Robin Reese on Tuesday they were negotiating a plea-in-abeyance settlement that they believe will be more acceptable to the judge than an earlier proposal Reese rejected May 1. In a plea of abeyance, the charge against the defendant goes away after a specified time (in this case three years) if the defendant fulfills the terms of the agreement.
Noting that he is legally restricted from doing more than either approving or denying a plea in abeyance, and cannot impose terms of his own as he could in routine plea bargain, Reese said Tuesday he wants the agreement to accomplish two things - to protect the public from future wrongdoing by Jenson, and to provide full restitution to the alleged victims in the attorney general's case.
Reese scheduled a hearing for 10 a.m. Thursday on the agreement.
Jenson is a key figure in unrelated efforts to transform long-shuttered Elk Meadows ski resort, 18 miles from Beaver, into the "Mount Holly Club," a high-end gated community with a private ski area and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.
The A.G.'s office contended, in a lawsuit filed Aug. 10, 2005, that Jenson engaged in securities fraud and racketeering, both second-degree felonies, in business deals in 2000 and 2001.
Jenson allegedly convinced three Salt Lake County men - Michael Bodell, Morty Ebeling and Ricke White - to give him money that would be used in one case to purchase a bicycle company and in others to serve as short-term loans to businesses until they acquired long-term financing.
Assistant Attorney General Charlene Barlow's complaint alleged that the lenders were promised significant returns on their investments, but instead lost several million dollars. The state also alleged that Jenson failed to disclose to investors, as required, that he had been sentenced to federal prison in 1991 for failing to file a federal tax return and had gone through bankruptcy.
Through attorneys Rebecca Hyde and Greg Skordas, Jenson denied the allegations of wrongdoing in the business deals. His attorneys also argued that Jenson did not believe he had to tell investors up-front about the federal conviction or bankruptcy, particularly because they occurred so long ago.
Outside of court Tuesday, Jenson said he felt his reputation had been tarnished in Salt Lake Tribune accounts of the case and that he was looking forward to expressing his side of the story when the criminal case was over. Skordas said he did not want to elaborate beyond Tuesday's court proceedings.
On April 3, after more than two years of legal give-and-take, attorneys for the state and Jenson told Reese they had negotiated a plea-of-abeyance agreement.
But after White, Ebeling and Bodell submitted written comments objecting to the agreement, and its lack of restitution, Reese rejected it May 1 and scheduled a trial, which was to begin Tuesday.
The attorney general's office was willing to try again at striking an agreement because it believed the negotiated settlement was the best way to ensure the alleged victims received full restitution, said Kirk Torgensen, chief deputy in the criminal division.
"I've done white-collar cases for years . . . and often the victim ends up with a penny on the dollar. The system doesn't perform well for victims," he said. "We're trying to see if we can come up with a deal that will satisfy the victims financially. One [victim] already indicated he has received an offer he is very happy with and would like to see go through."
By Thursday, Torgensen added, "we're either going to go into court with a deal that satisfies the victims [or] the case may end up being tried."
mikeg@sltrib.com
