SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge has denied a request to toss out a conspiracy charge against two men accused of bribing International Olympic Committee members to bring the games to the city.
Attorneys for Tom Welch and Dave Johnson had argued that the government wrongly charged the men with two separate conspiracies — one to violate mail and wire fraud statutes and another to help the son of an IOC member commit immigration fraud.
They asked the court to dismiss the entire charge or at least force the federal government to choose between the two conspiracies. Welch and Johnson, who led the city’s bid for the games, face 15 felony charges.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge David Sam agreed with U.S. Magistrate Ronald Boyce, who concluded earlier this month that the immigration fraud was part of the broader conspiracy to bribe IOC members into awarding the Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City.
