U.S. prosecutors give up on utility bribery case

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona on Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss the indictment of a former utility regulator and others who were charged in a bribery case that ended in a mistrial July 17.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office had until Aug. 13 to decide whether to retry the case after jurors deadlocked.

Jurors could not agree whether former utility regulator Gary Pierce, his wife, Sherry, lobbyist Jim Norton and water company owner George Johnson had participated in a bribery scheme, as prosecutors alleged.

The case began more than two years ago when federal investigators said they were looking into statewide election issues and asking questions of utility Arizona Public Service Co. and the Arizona Corporation

As a part of that investigation, Norton’s wife, Kelly, was interviewed by the FBI. She said during the bribery trial that while she didn’t have information on the case investigators were asking about, she grew concerned she would be charged with her role in another matter.

After the 2015 interview with investigators, Norton said she took the information she had on the Pierces and Johnson to the government. She was given immunity in exchange for her testimony and she served as the key witness in the government’s case.

Prosecutors said Johnson paid $31,500 to the Pierces through a sham consulting arrangement set up through the Nortons. They said the payments were in exchange for Gary Pierce ushering rate increases for water company Johnson Utilities Commission. through the Corporation Commission, which sets public utility rates.

Defendants said the payments to Sherry Pierce made through Norton’s consulting business were legitimate and not intended as a bribe.

The indictment also alleged that Johnson was going to fund the purchase of real estate worth $350,000 for Pierce. Evidence brought forth during the trial showed that deal never was consummated.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Strange filed the motion to dismiss the case Tuesday with no explanation of the decision.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office offered no comment on the matter and would not say whether prosecutors had the opportunity to interview jurors in the case to help make the decision whether to retry it.

Pierce could not be reached and his attorney declined to comment, noting that the case is not over until the judge issues an order.

Taryn Jeffries, a food writer who runs the website Phoenix Bites, served as the jury foreperson. She said Tuesday she was not surprised the government decided not to retry the case, which she considered “weak.”

She said the jurors deadlocked at 7-5 with those believing the defendants were guilty in the minority.

She said the prosecutors’ demeanor toward the end of the trial indicated to the jurors the case was not going well.