ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
2 businessmen accuse Rep. Trevor Lee of abuse of power, altering checks in past job
Apr 15, 2026, 4:52 PM
Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, speaks about a bill at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Two businessmen are accusing Lee of committing check fraud in a previous job and abusing his power as a member of the Utah Legislature. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Two businessmen are speaking out against state Rep. Trevor Lee’s reelection campaign, accusing the Republican lawmaker of previously committing check fraud and using his position in the Legislature to try to help a company secure a government contract in exchange for money.
The allegation of fraud stems from 2013, when Jason Walton says Lee worked for his Moxie Pest Control company in North Carolina. Walton, who ran as a Republican in the U.S. Senate primary in Utah in 2024, said Lee altered multiple checks by increasing the paid amounts, totaling at least $3,100.
Meanwhile, the other allegation is more recent and involves a Utah County-based company, Enevive, whose owner, Trent Spafford, says he advanced Lee $93,000 to help him deal with a personal matter. In exchange, Spafford alleges, Lee promised to help Enevive obtain a government contract.
Both Walton and Spafford made their allegations in videos posted to a website paid for by Walton called stoptrevorlee.com. Lee is a Republican from Layton who was first elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 2022. He is currently running for a third term.
In a statement to KSL on Wednesday, Lee admitted he acted improperly while working at Moxie Pest Control while denying the allegations involving Enevive.
“It is sad when campaigns resort to personal attacks when opponents can’t win on the issues,” Lee said. “But I have never shied away from the truth, and I never will. I’m happy to talk to anyone, anytime, because my record of service speaks louder than any former lapse in judgment.”
Meanwhile, Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said the Legislature is looking into the allegations against Lee.
“We are carefully reviewing the matter and will follow the appropriate process to determine the facts and any next steps,” Schultz said in a statement. “Allegations of this nature involving a sitting legislator are taken seriously.”
Both businessmen say they did not know each other prior to this, and describe themselves as conservative Republicans.
“I’m a conservative and so, you know, it seems like I shouldn’t really be talking about another fellow Republican, but the truth really needs to be revealed here,” Spafford says in the video. “And Trevor Lee has a propensity of wanting to have that power, wanting to have that control.”
Alleged check fraud
Lee worked for Moxie Pest Control as a sales manager for over a year between 2013 and 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Walton said he confronted Lee at the time of the alleged fraud in 2013, but ultimately did not report the incident to the police after Lee signed an admission of guilt.
In response to questions from KSL on Wednesday, Lee admitted to acting improperly but questioned Walton’s timing coming forward as Lee faces a Republican challenger in his fight for reelection.
“Over a dozen years ago, I made a grave error. I behaved dishonestly with my employer at the time, Mr. Jason Walton,” Lee said. “I have deeply regretted my behavior at the time, more than a decade ago. I admitted my wrongdoing, made restitution, and vowed not to repeat the behavior. That chapter is long closed, and I have spent every day since earning the trust of those I serve.”
“Now,” he continued, “for reasons that are not clear to me, Mr. Walton has decided to drag up this past incident in order to damage me politically.”
Walton said he considered leveling the accusations against Lee when he first ran for office four years ago, but told KSL he was still reeling at the time after his daughter died by suicide in late 2020 and his brother and business partner later died. He said he has talked to people who know Lee recently and believes the lawmaker has not changed his character.
“When I started talking to people who’d been part of his life over the last 10 years, I was very, very concerned, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is happening because I didn’t stop him earlier,'” Walton said. “I have to own my part of this, too, and my part is I truly believe in my soul that this person has no business in the public trust. None.”
The website created by Walton includes photos that it says show one of the fraudulent checks and a portion of the admission of guilt signed by Lee.
Alleged abuse of power
Years later, in early 2024, Spafford said he hired Lee as a full-time sales consultant at Enevive, a Pleasant Grove water treatment company. At the time, Lee was serving in the Legislature and was a co-sponsor of a bill banning fluoride in public water systems.
During his employment, Spafford said Lee told him he was having problems with the construction of his personal residence and needed to show additional income in order to be approved for financing. Spafford said he advanced Lee a total of $93,000 over a period of time.
After later telling Lee the advances would stop, Spafford said the lawmaker raised the idea of getting Enevive a government contract at Hill Air Force Base to work on water treatment and purification, as well as a contract to do the same work in Utah schools.
“He was definitely using his leverage as a member of the House of Representatives to get this contract for us, which would then offset us advancing him this money,” Spafford said.
Spafford said he never ended up getting any government contract. He said he fired Lee in mid-2025.
A few months later, in November 2025, Enevive sued Lee in federal court along with other individuals. The suit specifically accused Lee of misappropriation of trade secrets and violating a noncompete agreement by using a company client list to make sales calls for a competitor. However, just this week, all the parties agreed to dismiss the lawsuit.
“I let it go. I quit the case,” Spafford told KSL, noting that he didn’t believe he would ever get any money out of it.
Spafford says he has recordings of multiple interactions with Lee that back up what he alleges. Lee, however, denied all of Spafford’s accusations.
“Completely false,” Lee said in a text message. “That man just tried to go after me maliciously and got it dismissed.”
Reelection campaign
Lee faces an intraparty challenge this year from Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson, who gathered signatures to secure a spot on the primary ballot in June. Lee declared his intent to gather signatures but didn’t turn in any, leaving his political fate in the hands of GOP delegates at the Davis County Republican Convention this Saturday.
Stevenson did not immediately have a comment on the allegations against Lee.
