Salt Lake school board member resigns as part of attempted bribery plea deal

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City School District board member charged with trying to bribe his opponent into dropping out of last year’s school board race has agreed to resign as part of a plea deal.

Mohamed Baayd was charged in December 2024 in 3rd District Court with committing bribery in elections, a third-degree felony. Baayd pleaded no contest last week to a reduced charge of attempted bribery in elections, a class B misdemeanor, as part of a plea in abeyance agreement, court documents show.

The plea is held in abeyance and will be dismissed after six months if Baayd follows the conditions of the plea, which include not violating any laws, paying a $1,000 plea in abeyance fee and submitting his resignation letter as a member of the school board on July 22, to be effective no later than Aug. 5.

Baayd beat Russell Askren in the November 2024 election to retain his seat on the school board.

Investigators say the two men met for the first time in March 2024. During that meeting, Baayd told Askren that “he knew a councilmember position was going to open in two years and that he was planning to run and had a very good chance of winning. Baayd stated that it was important for him to remain in his current position and asked Mr. Askren to withdraw from the election and allow Baayd to be re-elected,” according to charging documents.

In exchange for dropping out, Baayd said he “would involve Mr. Askren in the work of the board and make sure he got to know all the members of the board and the district superintendent,” the charges allege. “Baayd explained that if he won the councilmember position, he would advocate for Mr. Askren and recommend to the board that they appoint him as his replacement.”

Baayd allegedly said he needed an answer from Askren by the end of the week. Askren later sent a text message to Baayd stating he “would be ‘continuing his campaign’ and that ‘withdrawing in exchange for your support and help to position me for a mid-term appointment’ was something he did not want any part of,” the charges say.

In his signed plea statement, Baayd said he agreed the state has evidence of a conversation he had with Askren, “which a jury could view as an attempt to give valuable consideration to the political opponent in order to obtain political support or aid to the defendant at the upcoming election.”

“While we regret it has taken so long to reach this outcome, we are very pleased this issue has been brought to a conclusion,” the district school board said in a statement to KSL.com Friday. “This matter caused other board members a great deal of stress as we sought to respect board member Baayd’s right to assert his innocence, while being upset by the nature of the allegations and by the disruption to, and distraction from, the important work of the board caused by pending legal proceedings.”

The statement also said the board will “act promptly” to appoint a new board member.

“We look to move forward with a new board member to collectively continue our work in the best interests of the district’s students, parents, employees and taxpayers. We have every confidence that, through the prescribed process, we will identify and select an outstanding new board member who will put the interests of constituents first and will work diligently to carry out the board’s vision of excellence and equity for every student, every classroom, every day,” the statement concluded.

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