Firm Opposes Subpoena in Bribery Case Against Ex-Regulator
PHOENIX (AP) – A water company whose owner is charged with bribing a former Arizona utility regulator is opposing a subpoena that orders the Corporation Commission to turn over records as part of the criminal case.
Lawyers for Johnson Utilities say the records are related to its rate case before the commission and are confidential and irrelevant to the case.
Authorities say then-Commissioner Gary Pierce voted in 2011 to let George Johnson’s company request that Johnson’s personal income taxes be covered by the utility’s customers if regulators were to allow such a practice in the future.
Pierce also is accused of taking bribes to push rate increases through the commission.
Pierce, his wife Sherry, Johnson and lobbyist Jim Norton have pleaded not guilty to bribery and fraud charges.
Related News
From Archive
- TxDOT advances massive drainage tunnel beneath I-35 in Austin
- Glenfarne Alaska LNG targets late-2026 construction start for 807-mile pipeline project
- U.S. water reuse boom to fuel $47 billion in infrastructure spending through 2035
- $2.3 billion approved to construct 236-mile Texas-to-Gulf gas pipeline
- Major water pipe break in Puerto Rico hits over 165,000 customers
- Pennsylvania American Water launches interactive map to identify, replace lead water service lines
- Trump's tariffs drive $33 million cost increase for Cincinnati sewer project
- Utah city launches historic $70 million tunnel project using box jacking under active rail line
- Tulsa residents warned after sewer lines damaged by boring work
- Fatal trench collapse halts sewer construction in Massachusetts; two workers hospitalized
Comments