This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
A Utah man once accused of commercial terrorism has resolved the criminal case against him, pleading no contest last week to lesser charges.
Scott Eckersley, 38, was originally charged in 4th District Court with four counts of second-degree felony commercial obstruction, accused of throwing away his competitor's tourism brochures that were displayed in the Zermatt Resort in Midway.
Last week, Eckersley pleaded no contest to two counts of class A misdemeanor commercial obstruction. The pleas were held in abeyance, meaning the charges will be dismissed if Eckersley follows certain guidelines. Those guidelines include an 18-month probation period, completion of anger management and "thinking errors" programs and a $750 fine. Eckersley also agreed to commit no further criminal offenses.
According to the plea agreement documents, Eckersley admitted that he observed promotional materials in the lobby of his residence at the Zermatt Resort, and removed the pamphlets "because he believed they had no authorization to be there without the written authorization from the management committee."
Wasatch County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Winterton has said that Eckersley removed the tourism brochures from the resort four times over the last year.
"He reportedly had a competing business himself," Winterton said. "He would remove the brochures out of the competition's rack, toss them away and replace them with his."
Court records do not detail what business Eckersley was associated with, though state records indicate that Eckersley is the registered agent for the Utah business Park City Local, LLC.
Eckersley previously served as a staff attorney in the governor's office in Missouri before he was fired in a high-profile spat that sparked a wrongful termination lawsuit settled in 2009.
He ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat the following year.
Twitter: @jm_miller