Interest in the Olympic bribery scandal may have waned dramatically since the story first broke in November 1998, but it surged anew this week after word spread of a Utah judge's decision to dismiss the remaining criminal counts against Tom Welch and Dave Johnson.
Media outlets from around the world began calling key players in the case about U.S. District Judge David Sam's Thursday morning decision.
And everyone asked the million-dollar question: What happens next?
Prosecutors remain tight-lipped about Thursday's decision, releasing a brief statement that offered no indication of future intentions.
"At this time, we are reviewing the court's decision and considering our options," Department of Justice spokeswoman Susan Dryden said.
Prosecutors have three options from which to choose: appeal Sam's decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, present the case to a grand jury for a new indictment or elect not to pursue the case any further.
The future of the case against the two former Salt Lake Bid Committee officials accused of using more than $1 million in cash, scholarships and gifts to influence International Olympic Committee members now lies where it began ? in the hands of the federal government.
"Unless the Department of Justice appeals this and wins, this case is over," University of Utah law professor Erik Luna said.
In Luna's opinion, however, the possibility of an appeal is slim.
"This may delve into the area of politics and not law," Luna said. "Does the Department of Justice have the will, the energy and the resources to pursue this case? In light of Sept. 11 there are, I would argue, much more important things on their plate."
Earlier this year, at least, the government looked poised to fight for its case.
On Aug. 13, less than one month after Sam dismissed four racketeering charges against the men, prosecutors filed a notice to appeal that dismissal in U.S. District Court. That notice is now pending before the 10th Circuit.
Defense attorneys remain hopeful Justice Department officials will simply accept Sam's decision and forgo any appeals.
"We hope that the federal government will not prolong this misguided prosecution by pursuing an appeal and will instead focus its energies on pursuing real criminal conduct," Welch's attorneys said in a statement released Thursday.
In his own statement, Welch echoed his attorneys' comments and again maintained his innocence, as he has since being indicted in July 2000.
"I am gratified that justice has been properly served, as I always knew it would be. To be accused of wrongdoing for what was truly a labor of love was devastating and makes this vindication all the more sweet," Welch said.
Johnson also told the Deseret News he hopes the government drops the case.
"I would hope that they have better things to pursue. This prosecution is so flawed," Johnson said. "There's no victims, there's no evidence of personal gain."
It's not clear what will happen to the three people already charged in connection with the case: local businessman David Simmons, former U.S. Olympic Committee official Alfredo LaMont and John Kim, the son of an International Olympic Committee member.
Simmons pleaded guilty in August 1999 to a misdemeanor tax violation, and LaMont to two felony tax charges some seven months later. Both agreed to cooperate with authorities and both have yet to be sentenced.
Kim left the United States for his native South Korea before being charged with using a fraudulently obtained green card and with lying to federal investigators.
Bill Schechter, a New York City-based spokesman for the Kim family, said he has "no way of knowing" what impact the dismissal could have on Kim's case. Simmons' attorney, Jim Holbrook, said only that the dismissal "doesn't affect us." LaMont's attorney could not be reached for comment.
Ten International Olympic Committee members either resigned or were expelled in the wake of the bribery scandal, and another 10 were reprimanded for their role in the situation. The IOC also enacted sweeping reforms to prevent members from again being able to accept favors and money from bid cities.
"We've done our 'trial.' What the United States of America wants to do with their citizens is something we cannot comment on," IOC President Jacques Rogge told the Deseret News. "For us, it's a neutral issue."
Rogge said he is aware the court's decision could be appealed. "If there's going to be a trial, there will be a trial. Probably the people in Utah will have the same sentiment as the IOC by saying, 'This is behind us. Let's look forward.' "
Both Rogge and the IOC member who headed the IOC's internal investigation, Canadian attorney Dick Pound, said they weren't surprised that the charges against Welch and Johnson were dismissed.
"We found a lot of inappropriate and tacky behavior but nothing that was criminal," Pound said. "It's nice that somebody who took a dispassionate look at the whole thing reached the same conclusion."
That doesn't mean Pound believes Welch and Johnson fared any better than the IOC members who were punished. "Tom and Dave have suffered enormously as a result of this. They've been put under legal, social and personal pressures that a judge now says were not justified."
The four key racketeering counts were charged under the federal Travel Act, which relies on a rarely used Utah bribery statute. In dismissing the charges, Sam said prosecutors misapplied the state statute as it applies to federal law.
"It really boils down to . . . the appropriateness on relying on the Utah commercial bribery statute," Welch attorney Blair Brown said. "Judge Sam decided it was inappropriate, and the indictment really fell like a house of cards after he made that determination."
Sam's decision doesn't rule out all future prosecution of Welch and Johnson, however.
The Utah Attorney General's Office originally screened the case for state charges but deferred prosecution to the federal government. However, now that Sam has decided the bribery charges are best suited for prosecution under the state's commercial bribery statute, the office could take another look at the case.
"We will get together to see where we left off, and at some point we will make a decision about where to go from here," office spokesman Paul Murphy said Thursday. "There's just too many unanswered questions at this point to say much."
But Luna doesn't believe the attorney general's office will ever file charges against Welch and Johnson. "I just really doubt that there is any will or any desire on the part of the attorney general's office to touch this with a 10-foot pole," he said.
The ruling also raises the debate over Welch's and Johnson's attorney's fees.
Welch and Johnson have previously battled both SLOC and its insurance carrier, New York-based National Union, over millions of dollars in legal fees.
Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt Romney said Thursday that under its board bylaws, SLOC now has to pay the legal fees accumulated by Welch and Johnson because Sam's ruling is essentially an acquittal.
Romney said the organizing committee will fulfill its responsibility to them, although he said there may be some differences about the amount owed.
If the government chooses not to appeal, Olympic critics say it will further the aura of secrecy that has always surrounded the scandal.
Welch and Johnson contend they did not act alone in procuring the Games, and it has been expected that Utah notables, such as Sen. Orrin Hatch and Gov. Mike Leavitt, would be called to testify about their role in the scandal.
Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson on Thursday called for the complete story from key players.
"There will always be an air of scandal until everyone involved puts their cards on the table," Anderson said. "We will never have total closure unless all that were involved provide this community with all the facts."
But others say the ruling closes the door on a lengthy and embarrassing piece of Salt Lake Olympic history.
"In politics and pragmatics, this very well may be a best-case scenario on all sides," Luna said. "The prosecution gets to point the finger at Judge Sam for destroying their case, the defendants get to skate without it actually going to trial . . . and Judge Sam doesn't have to deal with this case, which would be thorny.
"The possibility of Orrin Hatch, Mike Leavitt and (former Mayor) Deedee (Corradini) getting up there and testifying would make the O.J. Simpson trial look like traffic court."
Not that the national and international media would be paying much attention.
"This really boots it off the field, I'd say," Ed Hula, editor of the electronically published Olympic newsletter, "Around the Rings," said from his office in Atlanta. "It is just amazing how the whole issue of the scandal has finally become separate from the Games."
Reporters began to lose interest in the topic in July, when the first set of charges were dismissed the same day the IOC chose a new president. Then the terrorist attacks against the United States shifted the media's focus squarely on security.
"Sept. 11th made other issues much more important to look at in Salt Lake City than one that involves public relations and image. Security is a far more substantial thing to be concerned about than whether Salt Lake has overcome the scandal," Hula said.
"I don't know who would be talking about it come Games time," he said, wondering aloud what might make the press pay attention to the scandal again. "Maybe if we spot Tom Welch and Dave Johnson in the stands of the Games."
Contributing: Brady Snyder, Dennis Romboy
E-MAIL: awelling@desnews.com ; lisa@desnews.com