SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 19, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Former Maricopa County Arizona Assessor Paul Petersen on Friday pleaded guilty in a Utah courtroom to three counts of human smuggling and one count of communications fraud in an illegal adoption scheme case that extended to three states and the Marshall Islands.
Petersen pleaded guilty to similar charges in an Arizona courtroom on Thursday.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office led the investigation into a business Petersen owned that involved recruiting, transporting, and paying Marshallese women to place their babies for adoption in the U.S., according to a statement released by the office.
The scheme extended to the states of Arkansas, which has a large Marshallese population, and Arizona, where Petersen lives.
“Today, Utah is safer. The rest of America and our friends in the Marshall Islands are safer. Today, justice begins to be served as Mr. Petersen will be held accountable for his crimes while his many victims are given some closure in the aftermath of this tragedy,” Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes said in the prepared statement.
“We’ve sent a clear message. Whether you are committing fraud, human smuggling, trafficking or any related crimes, we will aggressively protect Utahns and come after you.”
Reyes is asking for the maximum sentence to each of the four Utah charges, which could be up to 15 years in prison, a $50,000 fine, forfeiting his law license and future ability to practice or facilitate adoptions in Utah.
Petersen will also face separate penalties in Arizona and Arkansas. His Thursday plea in Arizona was to Medicaid fraud-related crimes. He will spend between three and 12 years in prison on those charges, the Utah statement says.
Petersen also is expected to plead guilty to harboring aliens for financial gain (a federal crime) in Arkansas, and to serve up to 10 years in federal prison. He will serve the federal sentence first, and the sentences will run concurrently.
“Convicting Paul Petersen of four serious felony charges is a just and encouraging resolution of the state’s criminal case,” said Dan Strong, Assistant Attorney General and SECURE section director. “Between the sentences in all three states, we are confident Petersen will serve a substantial prison term — a stronger result than any jurisdiction could likely have achieved individually.
“We are especially proud to have achieved this outcome without putting the victims in this case through a difficult trial that would have involved wrenching testimony on sensitive family issues. We hope this conviction and sentence gives these victims some closure, and that it will deter Petersen and others like him from flouting international law, exploiting vulnerable mothers, and defrauding parents seeking to adopt.”
An international compact between the United States and the Marshall Islands prohibits Marshallese citizens from traveling to the United States for purposes of adoption. During his guilty plea, Petersen admitted that he knowingly transported Marshallese women into the United States, knowing they were not United States citizens, and did so to facilitate adoptions.
Petersen also admitted he did not inform the American couples seeking to adopt these children about the international restrictions on Marshallese adoptions, and that he omitted this information to obtain the adoption payments, the statement says.
“These kinds of cases are complex, troubling and the crimes have a significant impact on the victims,” said Professor of Law Paul Cassell at the S.J. Quinney School of Law at the University of Utah and a former U.S. District Court Judge.
“I have personally been involved in negotiating resolutions in these situations through the legal system and believe that this is a just resolution and will deter future violations of law and will provide a just punishment.”
