This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Former Morgan County council administrator Garth B. Day pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to six felony counts in connection with embezzling nearly $1 million from the county and several banks.
Day, 41, of Elwood, entered pleas to money laundering, false loan and credit applications, theft from a program receiving federal funds, wire fraud, mail fraud and bank fraud before Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba.
The council administrator from June 2008 to Aug. 4. 2010, Day converted county funds for his personal use on several occasions beginning in 2008, according to information filed in court. He said he did so to pay off personal debt accrued from two homes he owned.
And though he turned himself in and paid some of the money back, Day still owes more than $416,000 in restitution.
He was charged with stealing funds Morgan County had received from the U.S. Department of Transportation. He also wired $92,000 from a Morgan County redevelopment agency to his own bank account to pay off personal debt, court documents state.
Day also misrepresented to Centennial Bank that he had the authority to open a $250,000 line of credit on behalf of the county, according to the information. He then transferred $92,000 from the new Centennial Bank credit line to pay off his credit card debt at another bank, court documents state.
In yet another incident, Day sent a letter to First National Bank of Morgan, claiming the county had authorized him access to county funds in the amount of $540,840.47, and he also forged the county's authorization in the process, according to the information.
Day, who is out of custody, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. by Judge Dee Benson.
Day faces a maximum of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on some of the charges.