This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has a new gig: He is a criminal defense attorney, complete with a YouTube ad letting viewers know that he has the knowledge and expertise to defend you against any kind of charge.
Boy does he ever.
Few defense attorneys around these parts have the firsthand experience with criminal charges that Shurtleff has — first as the state's top prosecutor for 12 years and now as a high-profile defendant himself.
He faces nine felony counts and is scheduled to appear in 3rd District Court for a June 15 preliminary hearing. The charges include soliciting bribes, witness tampering, evidence tampering, obstructing justice, accepting a gift, and accepting employment that would impair judgment.
Shurtleff and his anointed successor, former Utah Attorney General John Swallow, are at the center of one of the largest corruption cases in Utah history.
Not surprisingly, Shurtleff mentions none of that in the ad for his law firm. He focuses instead on his expertise.
"Take it from me," he says. "Dealing with the complex criminal legal system can be difficult and intimidating for most people."
And you really can take that from him. Some of his accusers say that during his three terms, the former Republican attorney general imposed his own brand of intimidation.
Darl McBride, for example, alleges Shurtleff said he could get McBride $2 million if the businessman stopped pursuing a Shurtleff associate, who McBride claimed had stiffed him. (McBride secretly recorded that conversation, which took place over breakfast at a Mimi's Cafe.)
The then-attorney general allegedly said he could get that cash by leaning on a businessman his office had prosecuted: Marc Sessions Jenson.
For his part, Jenson, whom a jury recently acquitted of fraud and money-laundering charges, has insisted that his legal troubles deepened when he resisted "shakedowns" and stopped lavishing gifts and favors on Shurtleff and Swallow, who also faces multiple felonies.
Then there is Tim Lawson, Shurtleff's so-called "fixer," who is staring at six felonies and purportedly made offers to folks that they couldn't refuse.
In the ad, Shurtleff explains that it is critical to have a criminal defense attorney who will protect the client every step of the way.
"I have defended clients in matters related to DUI, theft, white-collar crimes, drug crimes, domestic violence, assault, murder and sex crimes," he says, although the charges against him suggest he is most familiar with white-collar offenses.
"During 12 years as Utah attorney general," Shurtleff says, "my personal motto was: The people's good is the highest law."
Shurtleff has sought other gigs as well. He considered running for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Then, after leaving office, he went to work for a Washington, D.C., law firm. That job ended around the time Shurtleff found himself consumed by the sweeping corruption probe.
Perhaps he could look in the mirror and tap his widespread expertise to consult — himself.