Report of Investigation

Complainant: Utah County Attorney

Subject: Chase Hansen

Date: 17 January 2020

To: Larry Weiss
By: Mark Brady, Assistant Director, OHRM
Ralf Barnes, Director, OHRM

Background: I was directed by Utah County Director of Human Resource Management (OHRM), Ralf
Barnes, to proceed with an investigation regarding the conduct of three Utah County Attorney Office
employees: including Chase Hansen. The matter of concern was the possible inappropriate acceptance
of gifts by the attorneys from a criminal defense firm, Pawelek and Gale. Of particular interest was the
allegation that Dennis Pawelek had given the attorneys tickets to Utah Jazz basketball games.

With the assistance of Director Barnes, I interviewed all three attorneys separately in my office on
Thursday, 16 January 2020. Each interviewee was informed that we were conducting an administrative
investigation—not criminal—of possible misconduct and as such, the information elicited from the
interview could not and would not be used against them as part of any potential criminal action. At the
end of each interview, each attorney was informed that they were not to discuss the investigation with
anyone with the exception of their respective spouses and counsel. They each agreed not to discuss the
case with any others. All three stated that Richard Gale had been retained as their counsel.

Chase Hansen Interview. 9:00 AM. 16 January 2020.

When asked about his relationship with the law firm of Pawelek and Gale, Hansen stated that he
became aware of the firm approximately five years ago while working for the 4 th District Court. He said
that since that time, he had become good friends with Dennis Pawelek. They play basketball together
with other attorneys from the County Attorney Office among others on a weekly basis. He also
indicated that had lunch on occasion with Pawelek and that Pawelek had paid for these lunches perhaps
three or four times. Hansen also said that he had attended a barbeque party and pool party sponsored
by Pawelek.

Hansen said that he had never received any cash from Pawelek but that he attended one Jazz basketball
game paid for by Pawelek which was on December 4 th, 2019. Sitake and Johnson also attended the
game with them. The seats were located toward the top of the lower bowl behind the backstop. Hansen
thought they cost about $240.00. Pawelek did not give him an exact price, even when Hansen had
specifically asked.

According to Hansen, last Wednesday Dave Leavitt confronted him and told Hansen that he had violated
the law and could be charged with a felony. Hansen said he was shocked to hear this and that he had
told Leavitt that he had paid Pawelek back—even though he hadn’t. Hansen said that he subsequently
attempted to pay the money back but that Gale, whom he retained as counsel, had advised him not to
pay it back because it would “look worse” if he did. Pawelek refused Hansen’s attempt to pay him $240
for the ticket.
Hansen said that neither his relationship nor the basketball tickets had influenced Hansen in his
professional capacity and that there was never a quid pro quo. He understands why the acceptance of
the Jazz ticket is a serious problem, but that at the time he just considered attendance at the game as an
outing with friends. He has not had a case with Pawelek since last September. Hansen reported that he
had 5-10 cases with Pawelek when he was a justice court prosecutor, 0 cases when he was at juvenile
court and two at district court.

Hansen said that he and other attorneys in the office liked working with Pawelek because he was good
at working with his clients, that he was “creative” in finding solutions, and personable. He said that he
did not believe that Pawelek was strategically trying to buy prosecutors—only that Pawelek is very
generous and friendly with all prosecutors, is building relationships and “wants to be Liked.” He also
mentioned that Pawelek had donated some money sports team.

Telephonic Interviews:

21 January 2020

At the request of the Attorney Office, Mark Brady contacted Hansen, telephonically, to ask who else
from the Office might have attended the lunches he described. Hansen responded that most attorneys
would have participated. He indicated, and many others. He
indicated that sometimes other people paid for lunch. It was not always Dennis. He said
had paid for a lunch himself on at least one occasion. He also said that they were not regular—perhaps
five over a two-year period.

3 February 2020

Hansen called Mark Brady, stating that he wanted to clarify a few points. Hansen said that on the day
he had me with David Leavitt the first time regarding his relationship with Pawelek, he had already been
contacted by Pona Sitake who warned him that there was a problem but that it could probably be
handled if they just paid Pawelek back. Hansen said he felt incredibly stressed and so he told Leavitt
that he had paid Pawelek back. He then was counseled by his attorney not to pay it back. So, he
delayed. He reported that eventually, Richard Gale disclosed that the tickets cost about $315.00. He
paid Pawelek that amount “through Richard (Gale)” via Venmo last Friday, the 31 st.

HR Director Opinion

Defense Attorney Dennis Pawelek has established a pattern of fostering an inappropriate relationship
with Deputy County Attorneys by providing improper gifts including Jazz tickets over the past several
years. While there is no evidence of explicit bribery or an attempt to influence the outcome of any
specific case, it can be inferred that Mr. Pawelek’s widespread generosity is an attempt to create
favorable relationships and conditions that could indirectly influence case outcomes in his favor.

The activities described by Hansen violate the Utah Public Officers' and Employees' Ethics Act 67.16.5
which has been adopted by the Utah County Attorney Office in its policies, Utah County Code
Professional Ethics and Conflict of Interest Ordinance Article 2-11, and Utah County Code Section 17-
16a-4. Both parties should have known that these activities were improper. There is evidence of a
significant friendship between Pawelek and the Deputy County Attorney, however this does not excuse
the improper acceptance of the Jazz tickets valued at approximately $240 each. This exceeds the value
of an acceptable occasional non-pecuniary gift of $50 or less. The value of the Jazz tickets given is
estimated but seems reasonable based upon the reported location of the seats.

In this case, severe disciplinary action is recommended and can be supported by Utah County Policy,
Ordinance and State Statue. Severe disciplinary action is defined as suspension without pay, demotion
or termination.