Ariz. Official Pleads Guilty In Utah To Human Smuggling Charges In Adoption Scheme

Jun 19, 2020, 12:46 PM | Updated: 1:22 pm

Paul D. Petersen pleaded guilty in Arizona to running a fraud scheme for adoptions. (Photo: Maricopa County)

(Photo: Maricopa County)

KSLTV.com

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A former Arizona politician has pleaded guilty in Utah to human smuggling charges filed in an illegal adoption scheme that stretched across three states and involved women from the Marshall Islands.

Paul Petersen is a Republican who served as county assessor in metro Phoenix.

The Friday pleas come after he struck a plea agreement with Arizona prosecutors on state Medicaid-fraud charges. A plea is expected next week in Arkansas.

Petersen was accused of illegally paying women from the Pacific island nation to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas over three years.

Press Conference announcing Paul Petersen guilty plea in Utah.

Posted by Utah Attorney General's Office on Friday, June 19, 2020

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