Private deal for ex-South Weber councilman resolves embezzlement case without conviction

DAVIS COUNTY – Attorneys have reached a deal with a former South Weber Councilman accused of taking $200 thousand from an assisted living center he used to manage.  The deal is currently private, but, some prosecutors are trying to change that.

The main prosecutor in the case against William Poff want to clarify that this was a private deal not a secret deal.  Deputy County Attorney Rick Westmoreland says, “If we wanted to just hide it from the public, we would have just dismissed it.”  Westmoreland says there are ways people can get the details of the deal, as long as a judge approves.  He adds, “Anybody that has interest in the case can file the motion with the court.  Or, it can be circumvented in a way that the parties can agree that the document is no longer classified as private.”

The arrangement made is called a “diversion” and Westmoreland says it has some similarities to a plea in abeyance.  “Generally speaking, there are terms and conditions and there is something that has to be approved by the court,” Westmoreland says.

He’s not at liberty to speak specifically about the conditions Poff has to follow, but Westmoreland says, generally, the case is dismissed only after the defendant follows the judge’s orders.  “Assuming either the state, or the defendant doesn’t follow through with whatever terms there are, there still can be a prosecution.”

Currently, Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings is in talks to make the deal public.