SALT LAKE CITY — Federal prosecutors opened the trial against two of this city's Olympic bid leaders Friday, saying the men "chose to wage a sophisticated campaign of bribery" to win the contract for the 2002 Winter Games.
The defense said Tom Welch and Dave Johnson did nothing wrong.
Welch, who was president of the bid and organizing committees, and Johnson, who was senior vice president, began the process by "identifying which IOC member would take bribes and which would not," John Scott, a Justice Department trial attorney, said in opening arguments.
Using charts and diagrams, Scott tracked the flow of money for jurors from the bid committee to members of the International Olympic Committee, using icons representing stacks of green cash.
Jean-Claude Ganga, an ousted IOC delegate from the Republic of Congo, took "a jackpot of $322,000" in cash, first-class travel, shopping sprees, and even a Rolex watch, Scott said.
Scott also claimed Welch and Johnson took $130,000 from an Olympic sponsor, Jet Set Sports, which arranged ticket and travel packages for VIPs attending the Olympic Games.
"We are not going to be able to show you how that cash got used," Scott told the jury of nine men and five women, a group that includes two unidentified alternates. "Use your common sense."
Johnson's attorney Bill Taylor emphasized the bid leaders were part of a larger team of Utah business leaders, politicians, lawyers and doctors who supported or funded the bid campaign or conferred their own gifts on IOC members.
He said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, joined the effort, helping relatives of IOC members obtain visas to work or attend school in the United States.
Welch and Johnson and the others realized only after losing the 1998 Winter Olympics to Nagano, Japan, that it would take more than "salt water taffy and jars of honey" to win the loyalties of IOC members, Taylor said.
The government has no evidence Welch or Johnson pocketed the money from Sead Dizarevich, owner of Jet Set Sports, who insisted on making his contributions in cash to hide it from other bid cities, he said. Welch and Johnson maintain they used the money for bid expenses.
"The evidence will be overwhelming that Tom Welch and Dave Johnson committed no crime — that it's unfair for them to be here," Taylor said.
The trial comes nearly five years after a single, leaked letter showed the 2002 bid to host the games had been greased by scholarships for relatives of IOC delegates, triggering a scandal of international proportions.
The government accused Welch, 59, and Johnson, 44, of lavishing $1 million in cash, gifts and favors on IOC delegates who awarded Salt Lake the games.
They face 15 felony charges that could bring them a minimum of four to six years in prison, and a maximum of 75 years. A federal grand jury indicted them more than three years ago on five counts of racketeering, another five of mail, wire and "honest-services" fraud, four of violating the Travel Act and a single count of conspiracy.
Welch and Johnson pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The fraud charges allege Welch and Johnson deceived Olympic trustees by secretly conferring gifts on IOC delegates. The defendants, however, maintain their trustees knew about the dealings. Five of Welch and Johnson's overseers, including board chairman Frank Joklik, have been named as prosecution witnesses.
It takes only one holdout to prevent a guilty verdict. That had prosecutors choosing jurors even more deliberately knowing they have to hold a trial in Utah where Welch and Johnson are considered by many to be scapegoats for past Olympic corruption.
Johnson's lawyer, Max Wheeler, said Thursday his message for jurors will be simple: "There is no crime here. No crime has been committed."
Among government witnesses will be Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, who is scheduled to be sworn in next week as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Leavitt is expected to testify that he was unaware of any questionable dealings with IOC delegates. Defense attorneys, however, plan to subject him to a vigorous cross-examination.
They also plan to question Anita DeFrantz, an American IOC member, on her knowledge of gifts given not only by Salt Lake City but also by Atlanta during the campaign for the 1996 Summer Games.
The trial almost didn't happen. In a series of rulings in 2001, Sam threw out the case, sparing Salt Lake City the embarrassment of a courtroom spectacle that could have coincided with the games.
But the charges were restored by a federal appeals court this April and the trial was rescheduled.