Utah AG charges 11, alleging forgery in signature gathering

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Attorney General’s office announced charges against 11 people on Monday, accusing them of forgery during the signature-gathering process for Utah candidates.

The Justice Division of the AG’s office filed forgery and forgery-related charges in 11 cases, accusing professional signature gatherers — all of whom were independent contractors working on behalf of the company Gather — of forging signatures during the gathering process.

The company’s contractors gathered signatures for candidates — most notably for Gov. Spencer Cox and former senate candidate Brad Wilson, along with state Sen. Don Ipson, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.

The investigation centered on signatures gathered in southern Utah to get candidates on the ballot. However, the signatures that were allegedly forged were not counted in campaign totals toward any candidates, officials clarified.

One document alleges that, between Jan. 1, 2024, and March 10, 2024, one of the defendants — named Benson Tohikoula Angilau — collected 2,243 voter names and signatures, but only 84 signatures were deemed valid.

“A couple signatures were illegible, and 11 signatures were from unregistered residents,” the documents shared by the AG’s office claim. “The remaining signatures, 2,146, did not match the signature on file with election officials.”

Another defendant, Axel John-Anthony Burt, is accused of turning in seven packets with six signatures where “their names had been signed by a spouse of the opposite sex or a parent,” the complaint reads.

Gov. Cox’s campaign manager, Matt Lust, provided a statement to ABC4.com on behalf of the Cox campaign. The full statement is included below:

During the 2024 election, the Cox for Governor campaign engaged a signature gathering company to help support its volunteer signature efforts. The company chosen by the campaign was the same one previously hired by several members of Utah’s congressional delegation, numerous legislative candidates, and the Governor’s Republican opponent in the 2020 gubernatorial election.

The total number of signatures submitted by the Cox campaign far exceeded the state requirement of 28,000. In the verification process, some signatures were disqualified by the Davis County Clerk for various reasons including signature verification.The Attorney General’s office should be applauded for its actions today, and those employed by this company or any other that engaged in this behavior should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Governor is also appreciative of recent legislative efforts to further strengthen trust in our elections, including the work done in this year’s session to increase transparency and enhance protections to the candidate signature-gathering process.
Statement from the Cox campaign

The people facing charges are included below:

• Benson Tohikoula Angilau
  • Nine counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
  • One count of communications fraud (third-degree felony)
• Axel John-Anthony Burt
  • Six counts of violation of certificate of nomination procedures (class A misdemeanors)
• Colton Louis Drake
  • Two counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
  • Eight counts of violation of certificate of nomination procedures (class A misdemeanor)
• Robert Randall Edwards
  • Five counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
• Rocko John Huntsman
  • Eight counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
  • One count of violation of certificate of nomination procedures (class A misdemeanor)
  • One count of communications fraud (class A misdemeanor)
• Kevin W. Jeong
  • Four counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
  • One count of violation of certificate of nomination procedures (class A misdemeanor)
• Sakura Jordan (Sakaria Lynn Hunnicutt)
  • Six counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
• Phyllif D. Karpeh
  • Seven counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
• Arkemi Robinson
  • Ten counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)
• Joseph Elias Wilde
  • Four counts of violation of certificate of nomination procedures (class A misdemeanor)
• Denton Williams
  • Eight counts of forgery (third-degree felonies)

The AG’s office said it is not providing further statement on the incident.

Peter Prybylski contributed to this report.