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Justin Miller — Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams' former campaign manager — was sentenced to probation Monday for stealing nearly $25,000 from the Democratic mayor's campaign account, but prosecutors say they are investigating allegations of more missing money.
Miller, 35, was charged and pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony communications fraud on the same day in October, and simultaneously resigned from his Democratic Utah House seat after serving just nine months. He previously had served as McAdams' associate deputy mayor.
The crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
McAdams — both in a letter to the court and through a statement in court Monday from his wife, Julie — had expressed a desire to see Miller spend some time behind bars, citing what he believes is a patterns of misconduct that spanned more than two years and included a violation of the trust of the public and campaign donors.
"We believe some jail time is warranted," Julie McAdams, who has replaced Miller as campaign treasurer, told a 3rd District Court judge. "When Justin stole, he effectively stole from our friends, our neighbors and our colleagues. He betrayed their trust as much as ours."
Julie McAdams also asked Judge Randall Skanchy to toss out a plea agreement that reduced Miller's crime to a third-degree felony if he paid the balance owed on $24,388 in restitution.
The money was to cover a campaign catering bill that Miller planned to pay for with his personal credit card. He cut himself a check in advance, but the company declined to accept payment by credit card. Miller cut the caterers a check from campaign funds, but failed to put back the money he had taken for himself.
Miller had the check for the $14,877.45 balance owed with him in court Monday and was expected to pay it after the hearing, his attorney said.
"This is something I deeply regret," Miller told the court Monday. "I apologize."
Skanchy ultimately followed the plea-agreement terms, although he expressed some concern over a recommendation from the state probation and parole office that listed Miller as a low-risk offender who would require no probationary supervision.
The judge suspended a potential zero-to-five-years prison sentence in favor of an 18-month court supervised probation, which includes 250 hours of community service.
The third-degree felony charge could be further cut to a class A misdemeanor if Miller completes his probation without being slapped with any new counts.
In a statement, the mayor and his wife said they "accept the determination of the court." Still, the McAdams said they believe Miller has not taken full responsibility for his actions and contend the initial plea negotiations included a "global" restitution settlement that would take into account other alleged financial misdeeds and a greater amount of restitution.
The McAdams campaign insists Miller may owe the campaign as much as $80,000 for other financial misdeeds committed between 2012 and 2014. The claims are based on the findings of a forensic accountant hired to examine transactions involving both the McAdams for Mayor campaign and West PAC, a political-action committee, both of which Miller controlled.
Accountants found discrepancies related to campaign office rent payments, questionable bonus payments to a political consultant, suspected double billings and missing receipts for nearly $15,000 in expenses.
"We hope the authorities will examine the additional information contained in the forensic accounting report and file charges for other criminal acts where appropriate," the McAdams statement says.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Steve Major told the judge those additional allegations had been discussed during plea negotiations, but not fully investigated. Investigators plan to examine the allegations, he said, and the forensic accountant's findings.
"Whether there will be additional charges, or whether we will be asking for additional restitution down the road, that will have to play out," Major told the judge.
After the hearing, Miller said he doesn't believe he committed other crimes.
"But I will certainly cooperate with any ongoing investigations," he said, "and have done so all along."
He also laughed when a reporter asked if he is considering returning to politics once the court case is behind him.
"I haven't even thought about it," Miller said.