Former Utah Attorney General John Swallow was acquittedon all public corruption charges yesterday.
After an intense four-week trial, the former Republican was acquitted on each of the nine felony and misdemeanor counts.
It was a dramatic end to the biggest political scandal in Utah history, which included multiple investigations, probes by the Utah house, the attorney general’s office, the lieutenant governor’s office and by state and federal criminal agencies.
Prosecutors had brought criminal charges against Swallow, his immediate predecessor Mark Shurtleff, and Shurtleff’s so-called fixer Tim Lawson. Shurtleff’s case was dismissed last July, Lawson died with charges still pending and Swallow was cleared of any wrongdoing by a jury this week.