Popular Post smac97 Posted June 18, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted June 18, 2020 Last fall we discussed a story about an Arizona man, former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen, who had been charged in what appeared to be a human trafficking scheme involving pregnant women from the Marshall Islands. Today, there is an update: Quote A former elected official in metro Phoenix accused of running an illegal adoption scheme in Utah, Arizona and Arkansas involving women from the Marshall Islands pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud charges for submitting false applications to Arizona’s Medicaid system for the mothers to receive state-funded health coverage. Paul Petersen, a Republican who served as Maricopa County’s assessor for six years until his resignation in January, faces a maximum of nearly 17 years in prison for his guilty pleas on Arizona charges of fraudulent schemes and forgery. He also agreed to pay $650,000 to the state’s Medicaid system. He still faces human smuggling charges in Utah and Arkansas as part of the alleged scheme. His attorney, Kurt Altman, said Petersen is scheduled to enter guilty pleas on Friday in Utah and next week in Arkansas. ... An adoption lawyer licensed to practice in Utah, Arizona and Arkansas, Petersen is expected to plead guilty to four of the felony charges as part of a plea agreement, according to the Utah Attorney General’s Office. The office will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. Friday to provide details about the agreement. On behalf of Petersen, Altman acknowledged that his client and another person collaborated on getting state-funded health care for adoptive mothers, even though Petersen knew the women didn’t live in Arizona. Asked by the judge whether Altman’s summary was correct, Petersen answered, “It’s true.” He is accused of illegally paying women from the Pacific island nation to come to the United States to place their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas over three years. Citizens of the Marshall Islands have been prohibited from traveling to the U.S. for adoption purposes since 2003. Authorities say the women who went to Utah to give birth received little or no prenatal care. They also said Petersen and his associates took passports from the pregnant women while they were in the U.S. to assert more control over them. Previously, Petersen had proclaimed his innocence. His attorneys have said Petersen ran a legal adoption practice and has been vilified before his side of the story comes out. “While Paul Petersen enjoyed a position of respect and trust in the community, he manipulated adoptive families and bilked Arizona taxpayers for his own profit,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement. Petersen completed a proselytizing mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Marshall Islands, a collection of atolls and islands in the eastern Pacific. ... Officials have said 28 Marshallese women gave birth in the Phoenix area as part of the scheme, costing Arizona more than $800,000 in health care expenses, and that their children were put up for adoption through Petersen. Pretty horrible. -Smac 7 Link to comment
Anijen Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Thanks smac97, I know many of these people personally and many people who have used the Marshallese traditions in their adoption agencies (because it is the Marshallese tradition to "lend, adopt, their children for their children's betterment). I have even been asked to be a translator for one group ( I am still fluent) and have been asked to defend a Marshallese man who is currently charged with the sexual molestation of a child. I had to decline the former because I am very busy and the latter because I am not currently licensed in Utah. So, thank you for keeping me as well as all those on this board updated. 1 Link to comment
Robert F. Smith Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 20 hours ago, smac97 said: Last fall we discussed a story about an Arizona man, former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen, who had been charged in what appeared to be a human trafficking scheme involving pregnant women from the Marshall Islands. Today, there is an update: Pretty horrible.-............ Isn't Maricopa County the same County which continually reelected that crazy Sheriff Joe Arpaio (24 years in office)? Why do the people of that county trust such crazy office-holders? Link to comment
Bob Crockett Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Well, defrauding the state is a serious problem. Link to comment
The Nehor Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 41 minutes ago, Bob Crockett said: Well, defrauding the state is a serious problem. But human trafficking is okay? Link to comment
ttribe Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 On 6/19/2020 at 3:55 PM, Bob Crockett said: Well, defrauding the state is a serious problem. Yes, Bob, it is. Nice of you to finally acknowledge that in this case. Link to comment
ttribe Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 (edited) On 6/19/2020 at 12:38 PM, Robert F. Smith said: Isn't Maricopa County the same County which continually reelected that crazy Sheriff Joe Arpaio (24 years in office)? Why do the people of that county trust such crazy office-holders? As a resident of said county, I can tell you that the two politicians were elected in very different environments and there was no publicly available information that Petersen was engaged in anything dodgy at the time of his election. Arpaio is a completely different situation and he was long overdue for removal from office when it finally happened. Moreover, he has tried to return to public "service" a few times since then and has been rejected soundly by voters. How about you not engage in disparaging innuendo when your education, experience and training are more than adequate to know better than to fall prey to illusory pattern detection? Edited June 22, 2020 by ttribe 3 Link to comment
Robert F. Smith Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 47 minutes ago, ttribe said: As a resident of said county, I can tell you that the two politicians were elected in very different environments and there was no publicly available information that Petersen was engaged in anything dodgy at the time of his election. Arpaio is a completely different situation and he was long overdue for removal from office when it finally happened. Moreover, he has tried to return to public "service" a few times since then and has been rejected soundly by voters. How about you not engage in disparaging innuendo when your education, experience and training are more than adequate to know better than to fall prey to illusory pattern detection. Sorry. Maybe all the other Maricopa County officials are good people. Stiil it does seem rather odd to say the least that Sheriff Arpaio kept getting reelected. What was wrong with the voters? I know how a Sheriff's Dept is supposed to function first hand -- I had a career with a county Sheriff's Dept. Link to comment
ttribe Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Robert F. Smith said: Sorry. Maybe all the other Maricopa County officials are good people. Stiil it does seem rather odd to say the least that Sheriff Arpaio kept getting reelected. What was wrong with the voters? I know how a Sheriff's Dept is supposed to function first hand -- I had a career with a county Sheriff's Dept. First, it is most certainly NOT the case that "all the other Maricopa County officials are good people." Geographically, Maricopa County covers 9,200 square miles. MC has a population of approx. 4.5M. It has all the same problems, if not more, than any other populace county in the States. Anecdotally, I discovered a corruption scheme involving a MC public official in the course of investigating elements of a marital divorce case...so, there's a at least ONE OTHER bad one, out there. Second, Arpaio's tenure was during a protracted period of local anger about alleged softness on crime and alleged uncontrolled immigration. It's an embarrassing chapter to many of us. This was also during a time when the voting population of Maricopa County was overwhelmingly conservative Republican. He played to his base and people looked past his glaring shortcomings. The complexion of Maricopa County has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. Edited June 22, 2020 by ttribe 3 Link to comment
Damien the Leper Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 On 6/19/2020 at 12:38 PM, Robert F. Smith said: Isn't Maricopa County the same County which continually reelected that crazy Sheriff Joe Arpaio (24 years in office)? Why do the people of that county trust such crazy office-holders? I live in Maricopa County. Arpaio's base is made up mostly of white, conservative Boomers. Arpaio is running for sheriff again but he isn't the only Republican running. Some guy by the name of Sheridan is running against incumbent Paul Penzone. 1 Link to comment
Damien the Leper Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 1 hour ago, ttribe said: First, it is most certainly NOT the case that "all the other Maricopa County officials are good people." Geographically, Maricopa County covers 9,200 square miles. MC has a population of approx. 4.5M. It has all the same problems, if not more, than any other populace county in the States. Anecdotally, I discovered a corruption scheme involving a MC public official in the course of investigating elements of a marital divorce case...so, there's a at least ONE OTHER bad one, out there. Second, Arpaio's tenure was during a protracted period of local anger about alleged softness on crime and alleged uncontrolled immigration. It's an embarrassing chapter to many of us. This was also during a time when the voting population of Maricopa County was overwhelmingly conservative Republican. He played to his base and people looked past his glaring shortcomings. The complexion of Maricopa County has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. It's quite silly that Arpaio ran for senate. We don't need a dangerous asshat like him in office. He's almost 90 years old, too. His senility and paranoia should be enough to stop him from holding office. 2 Link to comment
The Nehor Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 On 6/22/2020 at 4:37 PM, Damien the Leper said: It's quite silly that Arpaio ran for senate. We don't need a dangerous asshat like him in office. He's almost 90 years old, too. His senility and paranoia should be enough to stop him from holding office. We seem to elect them anyways. Link to comment
InCognitus Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Apparently Petersen plead guilty today (or yesterday - since I'm posting after midnight) to human smuggling in Arkansas: Arizona’s Paul Petersen pleads guilty in Arkansas human smuggling case Quote JUNE 24, 2020 AT 4:30 PM PHOENIX — All that’s left for disgraced former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen’s illegal adoption case is the sentencing. On Wednesday, Petersen pleaded guilty in Arkansas to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit human smuggling, completing the judgement portion of his three-state case. Six days earlier, the former elected official pleaded guilty in Arizona on four state fraud charges related to his adoption scheme involving pregnant woman from the Marshall Islands. A day later, he pleaded guilty in Utah to three state counts of human smuggling and one count of communications fraud. Petersen faces up to 16.5 years in prison related to the Arizona case for fraudulently claiming the Marshallese women were Arizona residents to get them health care coverage, bilking the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System out of over half a million dollars. He also was ordered to pay $650,000 to Arizona’s Medicaid system, $11,000 to a victim and $18,000 to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for investigative costs. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $50,000 fine in the Utah portion of the case and 10 years and a $250,000 fine for the federal case in Arkansas. Link to comment
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