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Jeremy Johnson's ongoing cooperation in a wide-ranging Utah political corruption investigation should reduce the amount of time he will spend in federal prison, the St. George businessman asserts.
To make that case to a federal judge, new court papers say, Johnson plans to rely on help from an unlikely source: Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings.
The prosecutor will testify — in person or in a written declaration — that "Johnson has provided substantial assistance in the ongoing criminal investigation of numerous individuals, including local and national political figures, their staff, and various other government officials," according to a document filed Tuesday in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court.
Johnson was convicted of eight counts of submitting false information to a bank related to the operation of his online marketing company, I Works, and found not guilty on 68 other fraud-related charges.
Prosecutors have said that federal sentencing guidelines suggest the conviction should net Johnson between 27 and 34 years in prison.
Defense attorneys Karra Porter and Mary Corporon, however, estimate a range of zero to six months.
That disparity is based on a multitude of factors, the attorneys contend, including whether banks or consumers actually lost money.
Federal sentencing rules also allow for a reduction in prison time based on the kind of cooperation Johnson has provided, Porter and Corporon said.
If the U.S. attorney's office won't acknowledge that cooperation, the pair wrote, then U.S. District Judge David Nuffer should hold a hearing to consider mitigation evidence.
Johnson is a key witness in the public corruption cases against former Utah Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow. Both former GOP officeholders have pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges and their cases are ongoing.
Rawlings is prosecuting Shurtleff, but has also pursued a sprawling investigation into other alleged misdeeds that could implicate Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the 2010 political campaign of Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
Much of the evidence stems from a multiyear probe of Shurtleff and Swallow conducted by the FBI. Federal prosecutors in Utah and Washington, D.C., declined to pursue criminal charges against Shurtleff and Swallow in 2013.
Rawlings, who is a Republican, and Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, a Democrat who is prosecuting Swallow, stepped in, however, and brought the state cases the following year.
Rawlings now plans to ask the courts to impanel a rarely used state grand jury to hear the further evidence gathered and consider whether it warrants criminal indictments.
Johnson is expected to be among those called to testify. By law, such proceedings are held in secret.