Utah lawmaker pleads guilty to fraud charge, resigns


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In a surprise move, a Utah state lawmaker pleaded guilty to fraud and resigned Friday, acknowledging he took about $24,000 in campaign money from his former boss, the mayor of Salt Lake County.

Democratic Rep. Justin J. Miller acknowledged that he wrote a check to himself in April 2014 while he was campaign manager for Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams to pay for event catering but never reimbursed the campaign.

Miller, 35, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors Friday morning, shortly after the felony communications fraud charge was filed. Under the terms of the deal, he's expected to get probation if he pays back the money before a sentencing hearing set for Dec. 18, said Miller's lawyer, Steven Shapiro.

Miller apologized in a statement announcing his resignation, saying that he failed to "communicate in a timely and transparent manner."

When Miller ran McAdams' campaign, he often paid election expenses with his personal credit card and reimbursed himself from election funds so he could earn credit card points, according to prosecutors.

In April 2014, Miller wrote himself a check for $24,388 to cover estimated catering charges for an event. But when the caterer didn't accept a credit card, he wrote another check from the campaign fund instead.

Miller never told anyone or reimbursed the first check, prosecutors said. He was quietly fired in Oct. 2014, but a month later, he was elected to represent Salt Lake County's Millcreek neighborhood in the House of Representatives.

A message left with Miller was not returned Friday.

McAdams, a Democrat, said Friday he's grateful the charge was filed.

"Justin stole money from me and the people who made donations to support my campaign. He betrayed the trust of a lot of people," he said in a statement.

Miller has said he didn't do anything wrong and was being retaliated against for raising red flags about the office's relationship with a well-connected political consulting group.

Salt Lake County prosecutors said they investigated his allegations and found no wrongdoing, but Miller said in his Friday statement that he is cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation into the county. He did not elaborate.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill says he's talked with federal officials and has no reason to believe that there is an investigation, and a spokeswoman for the mayor says the probe is closed.

Prosecutor Troy Rawlings confirmed Friday that the FBI was involved in the Miller case but declined to offer details about the scope of their investigation. The Salt Lake City FBI office did not return a message seeking comment Friday.

Utah Democratic leaders called for Miller's resignation in June, after McAdams released a recording of himself confronting his one-time employee about the missing money.

House Democratic leader Rep. Brian King said Friday that Miller was right to give up his seat.

"This is a thing that needs to be done," King said.

Miller's resignation becomes official on Nov. 11. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert will appoint a replacement nominated by Democrats in Miller's district.

Lawmakers aren't planning additional investigations after Miller's resignation, King said.

Miller served for less than a year. During his tenure, he sponsored a law that bars discrimination against breast-feeding mothers at work.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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