Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said the investigation is ongoing. 2 ex-Utah attorneys general arrested

SALT LAKE CITY — Two former Utah attorneys general were arrested on a battery of bribery charges Tuesday stemming from their cozy relationships with several businessmen, a stunning fall for a pair of politicians who built immense political clout in their years at the highest level of state law enforcement.

John Swallow, 51, and Mark Shurtleff, 56, were arrested at their homes Tuesday morning, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said at a news conference at the FBI office in Salt Lake City.


Court records show John Swallow faces 13 charges, including felony counts of receiving or soliciting a bribe, misusing public money and evidence tampering. Shurtleff is charged with 10 felony charges, including charges related to bribery, evidence and witness tampering.

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The most serious charges for each man come with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Gill said the investigation, which the FBI is assisting on, is ongoing and additional charges will likely be filed against both former attorneys general and other individuals.

“The investigation of public corruption is one of the highest priorities of the FBI,” said Mary Rook, the agency’s special agent in charge in Salt Lake City.

Swallow and Shurtleff’s attorneys did not answer after-hours calls Tuesday morning.

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Both men were booked in the Salt Lake County Jail on a $250,000 bond, jail records show.

“This is a sad day for Utah,” Republican Gov. Gary Herbert said in a statement Tuesday. “The entire situation, regardless of how the legal process plays out, is a black eye for our state.”

The arrests come more than 14 months after county prosecutors and the FBI started scrutinizing Shurtleff and Swallow’s relationships with businessmen, including allegations of a chain of favors, campaign donations and gifts such as spa vacations and use of a private jet and luxury houseboat.

Swallow resigned in late 2013 after spending nearly 11 months dogged by allegations of murky dealings with questionable businessmen and employing underhanded campaign tactics in 2012.

Swallow adamantly denied breaking any laws in announcing his decision and said the toll of the scrutiny had become too much for him and his family.

The first bombshell allegations dropped less than a week after Swallow took the oath of office in January 2013, when a businessman in trouble with federal regulators accused Swallow of arranging a bribery plot involving Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Reid and Swallow denied the allegations.

In the months following, the accusations and investigations snowballed and led to probes by the U.S. Department of Justice, Utah elections officials and the state bar.

An investigation from Utah lawmakers concluded Swallow destroyed and fabricated records and hung a veritable “for sale” sign on the door of the attorney general’s office.

Swallow denied the allegations and said any missing records were deleted unintentionally.

Shurtleff, his predecessor, is Utah’s longest-serving attorney general. He left the office in early 2013, but allegations of corruption followed him.

A businessman claimed while in office, Shurtleff had offered him $2 million if he stopped trying to find a suspected swindler.

That came on the heels of a jailed businessman’s claims that he paid for meals, golf and massages for Shurtleff and Swallow at a Newport Beach resort months after the Utah attorney general’s office charged him with fraud.

Shurtleff and Swallow denied the allegations.

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