Labor trafficking charges against Rubicon dismissed without prejudice

Yahoo

28-03-2025

Labor trafficking charges have been dismissed against a Davis County general contracting company, but the state was given the option of refiling them.
As of Friday, however, no additional state or federal charges had been filed.
In November 2023, the founder and six executive members of Rubicon Contracting were charged with 14 counts each of aggravated human trafficking, a first-degree felony. The group was accused of recruiting about 150 people from Mexico to work for the company using H-2B visas. But once in Utah, charging documents allege the victims were paid very little and forced to live in deplorable housing provided by Rubicon while also being forced to pay rent under the threat of deportation.
But following a contentious preliminary hearing in December, and while waiting for the judge to decide whether the state had met its burden of proof for the case to proceed to trial, the Utah Attorney General's Office asked for the charges to be dismissed because of a pending federal investigation.
Defense attorneys agreed the case should be dismissed, but with prejudice, meaning the charges couldn't be filed again.
In her ruling issued last month, 2nd District Judge Rita Cornish said she did not believe the state was engaging in "forum shopping."
"(Rubicon has) argued that the state's motion is a thinly veiled attempt at forum shopping because it was filed when the court had taken under advisement the decision on the preliminary hearing. (Rubicon) argues that the state seeks to avoid an adverse ruling by seeking dismissal without prejudice and that the state's prosecution in this case has been characterized by pervasive misconduct," Cornish said in her ruling.
She also acknowledged that prosecutors were seeking dismissal because it was unable to obtain evidence from some federal agencies and that the crimes allegedly committed by Rubicon were federal violations that would be better dealt with in federal court.
"Though the state never expressly states that it failed to carry its burden at the preliminary hearing, it suggests that it failed to present evidence from a variety of sources that would have otherwise been available to it," the ruling says.
"The court cannot find that the state is forum shopping," Cornish continued. "And, the court agrees that the facts and circumstances giving rise to these charges implicate a number of federal laws and regulations, the violation of which would be better pursued in a federal forum."
As for allegations of misconduct by the prosecution, the judge ruled that "while the court is convinced that these charges were premature, and the state has been disorganized in presenting them, it is not yet convinced that the state has engaged in misconduct. ... Notably, the fact that the state prematurely filed charges before having adequate evidence to support them provides a reasonable ground to dismiss the charges as the state has requested."
Cornish said she is sympathetic to the time, effort and expense that Rubicon has spent defending itself.
'Despite those weighty burdens, they do not rise to the level that overcomes the presumption that the case should be dismissed without prejudice,' the judge said while dismissing the charge without prejudice, meaning prosecutors have the option of potentially filing them again.