Gross, nevertheless, maintains his innocence, insisting he and his wife, Kristine, were the true victims of the Aug. 14, 2004, incident.

Gross said in a statement the case had "taken a huge financial and emotional toll - both on me and on my family."

He said the plea resolution was prompted by the realization that it would require "substantial additional costs to try the case and achieve full exoneration."

Gross pled to an infraction, which carries no potential for jail time. He was fined $250 by 4th District Judge Lynn Davis.

Gross was initially charged with one class A misdemeanor count of brandishing a firearm. Prosecutors said he used his .40-caliber handgun to threaten three occupants of a pickup truck while driving northbound on the freeway near Lehi.

But Kristine Gross said in the statement that the pickup truck pulled in front of them, causing her husband to slam on his brakes, honk his horn and swerve to avoid a collision.

"Then the three chased us down and tried to run us off the road," she said. "I felt threatened and fearful for our lives. All Bob did was move his weapon from where it was concealed under his seat to under his legs. Bob made every attempt to get away from these individuals as they came alongside our car and veered into our lane."

In his written statement for the Utah Highway Patrol, Robert Gross claimed: "At no time did I intend to brandish the weapon, point it or threaten with it."

The truck occupants claimed it was Gross who cut them off. Driver Raymond Carter told troopers that Gross "flashed a pistol . . . and raised it up and down a few times to let us know he was armed."

Carter denied that obscene gestures were exchanged, acknowledging only honking.

One of the truck's occupants called 911 on a cell phone, and Gross was stopped by a UHP trooper between 9000 South and 10600 South.

Gross was Leavitt's chief of staff in 1997 and an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 2002. At the time of the crime, Gross had recently returned from Iraq, where he spent a half year as advisor to provisional U.S. administrator head Paul Bremer.