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Newly unsealed search warrants in the investigation of former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff paint a picture of him partying with friends with checkered pasts who were not afraid to drop the name of the state's top law enforcement officer to help their business deals.
In one 2012 instance recounted in a warrant, Shurtleff and his friend Sovatphone Ouk were said to be partying at an exclusive "underground" New York City nightclub with Edward Johnson, a donor to Shurtleff's political campaigns whose company allegedly defrauded customers out of more than $200 million.
James Bramlette, a witness interviewed by the FBI, told investigators that Ouk and Shurtleff were recounting how a man — identified later in the warrant as Johnson — spent $100,000 at the bar and "that there were women all over the tables."
Johnson's business, The Tax Club, was sued by the Federal Trade Commission, which alleged it had scammed consumers out of more than $200 million by selling worthless business advice.
Johnson settled with the FTC last June, agreeing to personally give up $2.6 million and not sell the type of services The Tax Club had been offering.
Shurtleff — who faces nine felony charges in a sweeping corruption probe that also leveled multiple felony counts against his handpicked successor, former Attorney General John Swallow — has a court hearing scheduled for Thursday.
Shurtleff's attorney, Richard Van Wagoner, said Monday evening he did not have copies of the search warrants and was unsure what the documents contained.
"Until I see what they are," Van Wagoner said, "and to what extent, if any, they are related to my client, I can't comment."
A telephone message left with an answering service for Ouk was not immediately returned Monday.
It is unclear how the material regarding Ouk might relate to the charges now pending against Shurtleff. Two warrants — one to Facebook seeking message exchanges and the other to Ouk's cellphone company for call and texting records — were issued in September but sealed by the judge until last week. Ouk is not named in any of the charges against Shurtleff.
Ouk has a record of stalking injunctions, a series of administrative fines levied by state regulators and domestic-violence charges that were dropped when the victim did not appear for trial.
Ouk and Shurtleff have a connection that goes back years.
Ouk's company donated $35,000 to Shurtleff's campaigns and employed his son at one time. Shurtleff, while he was attorney general, appeared in a video endorsing a diet pill Ouk was marketing in 2010.
Ouk told investigators Shurtleff sometimes gave him legal advice with his divorce and various business deals.
The warrant recounts instances in which Shurtleff allegedly intervened in disputes in which Ouk was involved.
In one case, investigators said, Shurtleff, while attorney general, pressed authorities to file criminal charges against Ouk's ex-wife after an estimated $50,000 worth of furnishings were stolen from their home, which was undergoing a short sale.
Shurtleff also emailed Zions Bank President Scott Anderson, asking if the bank could modify Ouk's home loan, calling Ouk "one of the most honest businessmen I know."
Shurtleff has been using space in Ouk's office building since his stint as Utah's three-term attorney general ended, Ouk told investigators. Shurtleff is currently listed as the attorney representing Ouk in his ongoing divorce case.
Another, previously unsealed warrant provides another example of Shurtleff's friend Tim Lawson invoking the Republican officeholder's name in meetings with a Lawson business associate. Sometimes dubbed as Shurtleff's "fixer," Lawson faces six felony counts, including intimidating witnesses and providing false statements to investigators.
John Morgan told investigators he provided equipment to Lawson's business, which built hovercrafts. Morgan said Lawson touted his friendship with Shurtleff and offered to get the attorney general to help Morgan with a lawsuit against another company in exchange for forgiving debts Lawson owed Morgan.
Morgan said Lawson bragged he was a modern "Porter Rockwell" — a reference to the often-violent enforcer loyal to early Mormon church leaders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young — and threatened to have Pacific Islanders beat him up.
Lawson allegedly made identical threats against another businessman, Darl McBride, who was trying to collect money he said he was owed by yet another businessman, Mark Robbins.
McBride later met with Shurtleff at a restaurant, where, McBride said, Shurtleff offered to get him $2 million if he left Robbins alone.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke
Tribune reporter Jennifer Dobner contributed to this story.