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St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson says government prosecutors have run off his court-appointed lawyers and have been inappropriately accessing private communications with his attorneys.
Johnson made those allegations in a motion he filed in Salt Lake City's federal court, where he and four others face 86 criminal charges related to operation of Johnson's now-defunct I Works online marketing company.
He is seeking permission to represent himself rather than getting new court-appointed legal representation with Friday's exit from the case of his attorneys, Ron Yengich and Chelsea Koch.
In the motion made public Friday, Johnson said he recently learned that government agents and prosecutors have been monitoring communications with his attorneys and have provided copies of emails to others, including other defendants.
"The knowledge that they are monitoring our communications has a definite chilling effect on what I can and cannot discuss with my attorneys," the St. George businessman wrote, saying that because he lives more than 300 miles away from his Salt Lake City attorneys, he is forced to communicate with them through emails.
The motion provided no further details.
The U.S. attorney's office for Utah had no comment, said spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch.
Normally, communications between a client and his or her attorney are privileged, meaning that others, including investigators and prosecutors, do not have access to them. Depending on the circumstances, violations of that privilege can result in sanctions — such as barring the use of evidence or even in dismissal of a case.
Johnson claims the government has used parallel cases — a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit in Nevada and the criminal case in Utah — to "gain control of my defense" and run off his court-appointed lawyers.
The first, Nathan Crane, "was working too hard to defend me and [the government] told him he was 'the most hated attorney in their office,' " which the motion claims led to his withdrawal.
Crane declined to comment Friday on the reasons for his exit, citing attorney-client privilege.
Johnson also asserts that the government created a "fatal conflict" with Yengich and Koch — who were appointed after Crane's departure — when the U.S. attorney's office or agents provided documents to the Federal Election Commission.
That agency recently sued Johnson, alleging he funneled illegal campaign donations to U.S. Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Harry Reid, D-Nev., as well as former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
Johnson — a key figure in the criminal cases against Shurtleff and his successor, former Utah Attorney General John Swallow — previously said the evidence came from meetings with state and federal investigators for which he was to receive immunity for any information he offered.
At a hearing Friday, Yengich and Koch were officially excused from the case, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Warner strongly urged Johnson not to represent himself, using the analogy of someone trying to perform an operation on themselves.
"I can't do brain surgery and, with all due respect, you can't try a criminal case," Warner said.
Warner temporarily appointed attorney Greg Skordas to consult with Johnson about whether he should act as his own attorney or have Warner appoint Skordas and his wife and law partner, Rebecca Hyde Skordas, as Johnson's new attorneys.
Johnson argued in his motion to the court that lawyers unfamiliar with the case would result in "another years-long delay" in the now 4-year-old criminal case, but Warner said any delay would be months and not years.
Criminal charges were first filed against Johnson in June 2011. He and four former employees have pleaded not guilty to the charges, most of which are related to bank-fraud allegations. None of the five defendants has accepted proposed plea deals offered by prosecutors.
A trial had been set for September but was recently postponed, apparently because of the change in Johnson's attorneys.