Legally Speaking Utah Attorney General’s Office

The Utah Attorney General’s Office has an office dedicated to protecting the integrity of the Medicaid program. Working with federal agents, we take on fraud, waste, or abuse of the system. It’s called the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit—or MFCU.
Every state has a MFCU, but Utah received the 2023 Inspector General’s Award for Excellence, which is a huge feather in the cap of everyone who works in the office and to our guest, Kaye Lynn Wooten, its director. Listen to Kaye Lynn answer questions about how the MFCU does its job on behalf of victims and taxpayers.
To report fraud and/or abuse, visit the MFCU page on the Utah Attorney General's Website. 
Read more about a recent case where a man was convicted of a 2nd-degree felony and sent to prison for financial abuse of a vulnerable adult—his mother.

This Legally Speaking episode examines one of the largest dark net drug trafficking cases in Utah.

In 2019, Aaron Shamo was sentenced to life in prison under the Controlled Substance Act for running a massive Fentanyl and Xanax manufacturing and distribution scheme.

A case of this magnitude is fascinating. In this interview, Assistant Attorney General Michael Gadd, who worked with the Department of Justice, shares more details about this case.

Explore these resources to learn more:

DOJ News Release on Shamo’s Conviction

Shamo accomplices convicted

CNBC Documentary on Shamo case

Is the AG’s Office Utah's law firm?

One of the Constitutional functions of the Utah Attorney General’s office is to act as counsel for every state agency. In essence, the office is the state’s law firm. State Agency Counsel is one of the divisions comprising hundreds of attorneys at the AGO.

Our office has attorneys who work exclusively for various state agencies as their attorneys and specialize in specific areas. Amanda Montague oversees this little-known office function every day.

This episode of Legally Speaking explains just how important the work performed by these attorneys is.
 

In any given month, the Utah Attorney General's Office can join dozens of amici, also known as ‘friend of the court’ briefs, or sign the AG’s name to a persuasive letter that argues for or against a hot topic.
Why does the office do this? The answer makes a lot of sense - Legally Speaking!
In this episode, Deputy Solicitor General Christopher Bates explains why our office joins these letters and briefs, the costs and benefits, and how the entire process works.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has observed a new form of evidence: Computer generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is commonly used to generate illegal images of children in sexual situations, similar to animated CSAM images.
Listen as Sete Aulai, our ICAC Commander, speaks out about this evolving trend. This is occurring at a time when ICAC continues to receive tips, cases, and explicit images, as well as attempts by some suspects to contact live young people.

The Utah AG's Office became the first state to take on organized retail theft full-time. We'll explain how it’s made a huge difference.
Crimes Against the Statewide Economy are enforced by the AG's CASE Unit. CASE was launched in 2020, with retailers' support and funding. In today's society, they are grateful that the investment they made is paying off.  The question is, what lies ahead?
In this episode of Legally Speaking, Detective Commander James Russell and Detective Steve Jensen share their experiences dealing with these crimes every day.