Walker ready to plead in election-bribe case
Ex-candidate for treasurer OK with talking to grand jury
"He will enter this plea, and he will not be the subject or the target of the grand jury proceedings, and he will cooperate with the grand jury," Walker's attorney, Jim Bradshaw, told the Deseret News.
But the two special prosecutors appointed to investigate allegations that Walker, a House member at the time, attempted to bribe his GOP primary opponent to drop out of the treasurer's race, cautioned there is no deal with Walker yet.
"The fair thing to say is that Walker's attorney has approached us. We have had discussions and we need to have further discussions," said Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings. "No deal has been finalized. ... I don't know if we're going to finalize it or not."
The other special prosecutor, Weber County Attorney Mark DeCaria, was more blunt.
"At this juncture we have made no offers, and we're not talking about negotiations at this point," DeCaria said. "It is my intention, and I think Troy's, to present this to a grand jury."
"There is an agreement in principle to a plea that is going to be entered," Bradshaw said, adding he has been in talks with both prosecutors. "There's nothing finalized, but the basic framework has been reached."
Bradshaw said Walker plans to enter a plea to a class B misdemeanor he described as "a very technical election law violation" but declined to specify. He said he does not expect Walker to serve jail time even though the charge carries a penalty of up to six months in jail.
Walker, his attorney said, "just needs to move on with his life. He's through with politics. He's through, really, with this chapter of his life and he just wants to move on. So he's going to go in and admit to this misdemeanor."
A Republican from Sandy, Walker stepped down from the Legislature in July and ended a probe by the House Ethics Committee even before it began. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff appointed the special prosecutors to consider criminal charges.
Bradshaw said the focus only on Walker "was misguided and politically motivated." He said the fact that Walker now "is resolving the case and they're continuing the investigation is confirmation that there were others that participated."
Walker's primary opponent, deputy state treasurer Richard Ellis, initially filed an elections complaint with the lieutenant governor's office that claimed Walker offered him the opportunity to keep his job at a substantially higher salary if he agreed to end his candidacy.
Recent comments
Clearly, the prosecutors can't agree on what to do because of their…
partisian politics | Oct. 16, 2008 at 5:24 p.m.
Not a chance! This guy is arrogant, self-absorbed, and completely…
Re: Let him move on | Oct. 16, 2008 at 9:34 a.m.
For being a one-party state, Utah certainly has more than its fair…
SP--Gratitude for the Honest | Oct. 15, 2008 at 2:56 p.m.
