WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO HIDE?
A 2News Investigation found the Utah Department of Corrections is going out of its way to make sure you don’t know about practices inside Utah’s Adult Probation and Parole system. Many of our requests for information have been denied. We put in a public records request for offender supervision histories on five probationers and parolees who have garnered recent headlines. That of Anei Gabriel Joker, Buk Muwat Buk, Noel Munoz Lopez, James Dekota Brunson and Anika Celeste Thorpe. We received the documents late December. Most all offender supervision histories written by AP&P agents contained a sea of black. They were totally obscured by black boxes, so much so, they were useless. We put them aside trying to figure out what if anything we could do with the documents but began to wonder what UDC was trying to hide. While trying to copy and paste one offender supervision history into an email to show 2News management, the redactions went away. What we found was very revealing about the supervision of these offenders and lack of consequences when they violated the terms of their probation or parole agreements. Something, if that had not happened, UDC and AP&P intended to keep secret.
“APPEARS A NUMBER OF REDACTIONS ARE INAPPROPRIATE AND NOT JUSTIFIED”
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — We took these concerns to attorney Jeff Hunt, a nationally recognized First Amendment attorney, an advocate for the public’s right to know. He helped draft Utah’s public records law, Government Records Access and Management Act, known as GRAMA. Hunt reviewed the unredacted records for us. “A significant amount of the information that was redacted was redacted inappropriately.”
“It certainly appears that a number of the redactions are inappropriate and not justified by the exceptions that allow government to withhold information under the government open records statute,” Hunt said.
He also said, “The entire purpose of GRAMA is to give a window into the workings of government and that includes most critically law enforcement and the supervision of offenders who are out on probation and parole. You can’t monitor that system without information, you can’t hold people accountable without transparency and information. So, these reports are very important for giving the public, the news media a look into whether the department is doing its job of properly supervising individuals who are out on probation or parole. If the public doesn’t have that kind of information, they can’t make a judgment about whether the appropriate action was taken with respect to a violation. They have to know there was a violation in the first place.” We asked Hunt if he believed UDC was attempting to cover this up. He said, “It is very disappointing to get the massive amount of redactions that you got in these documents when it’s a very important story that needs to be told. And the information that was redacted is vital to telling that story.”
That story is a story about a breakdown in supervision.
ANEI GABRIEL JOKER
Supervision records on Anei Gabriel Joker, 20, who was on intensive probation at the time reveal he was wanted for the rape of a child on or about 12/01/2021 and for robbery on 11/01/2021. A supervision contact shows his DNA was taken on 11/02/2021. And at one point was questioned about a UPD homicide case. On 11/29/2021, his agent called and texted Joker after he was late for his office visit. The record shows there was no response. The agent tried again the next day but to no avail. Having failed to report, a warrant was issued for his arrest on a probation violation. Another agent made a supervision contact but no sign of Joker. On December 1st, Joker was killed in a hail of gunfire during a shootout in Taylorsville after holding an infant hostage inside an SUV and shooting two police officers, one from Unified Police, the other from West Valley City Police.
Does a deceased person have a right to privacy? The Utah Department of Corrections seems to think so.
Hunt says otherwise, “Once an individual dies their privacy interest dies with them. The redactions and those on Joker’s supervision history were especially troublesome for Hunt. “I think a significant amount of the information that was redacted was redacted inappropriately, particularly for the deceased [Anei Gabriel Joker] offender,” Hunt said.
BUK MUWAT BUK
Buk Muwat Buk, 22, was also on felony probation and under the supervision of AP&P. The notes indicate that Buk was not seen at home once by probation agents. In fact, on June 5, 2021, the agent wrote: “I have not had a successful home visit with Mr. Buk and will request a GPS.” At no point in the records does it indicate Buk was ever outfitted with a GPS ankle monitor.
A few months later, on August 5, 2021, a urine test revealed he tested positive for THC, Marijuana-Hashish, Oxycodone, Oxycontin and Percocet. During an office visit, Buk claimed he was prescribed “Oxy” after his car accident and recent infection in his hand and knee. It says he denied smoking THC and was claiming he got “hot boxed” by a friend who gave him a ride. The notes further show Buk was “field carded” as a 220 Safari Blood gang member by an agent with the Metro Gang Unit.
On September 13th Buk showed up for an office visit with his agent. Three days later, on September 16th, the agent tried to find Buk at home but was not successful. Six days later on the 22nd, he again tried to find Buk at home and noted that he had talked with a woman who said he wasn’t home and had just left. The agent then talked with a middle-aged man in the garage, and wrote, “He acted like and made it seem like Buk did not reside at this residence.” Four days later, University of Utah football player Aaron Lowe, 21, was shot to death on September 26th outside a home where a party was taking place in Sugarhouse. Lowe’s girlfriend Fuamoli Pomale was also shot but survived. Notes indicate Salt Lake Police had probable cause to arrest Buk for homicide. The records show AP&P agents and supervisors tried to locate Buk. He was captured in Draper on October 2nd by other police agencies. Buk is charged with aggravated murder in the death of Lowe and the attempted murder of Pomale.
NOEL MUNOZ LOPEZ
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole granted parole to Noel Munoz Lopez, 34, on March 23, 2021. Lopez was sent to prison in 2007 on a conviction of attempted murder and three convictions of aggravated assault. Lopez, at the age of eighteen, shot a man paralyzing him for life. Once on parole, Lopez was classified as a “High” level of supervision, one step below “Intensive” which is the highest.
On August 6, 2021, a urine analysis showed Lopez tested positive for methamphetamines. His agent noted that Lopez, “Admitted to snorting meth on August 4th,” which was a direct violation of his parole agreement. But the agent only gave Lopez a “Verbal Warning.” The notes indicate an AP&P supervisor approved this.
Less than two months after testing positive for methamphetamine, Lopez was listed on those reports as the suspect in the October 4th killing of 82-year-old Farrell Bartschi. The elderly man was out on his morning walk in the area of 3800 South 4200 West in West Valley City. Notes indicate Lopez had gotten into an argument with a family member of his and left the residence which was in the same vicinity where Bartschi lived.
The record also shows Lopez had changed his residence without getting prior approval from AP&P. The parole agent wrote a warrant request to the Board of Pardons and Parole which issued a warrant for Lopez’s arrest on parole violations for “homicide” the day Bartschi was killed. The warrant warns law enforcement that Lopez is a Sureno’s gang member and cautions that he may be armed and dangerous. More than a month later on November 11th, the agents note read: “Mr. Lopez is wanted in connection with a homicide. He absconded supervision on 10/04/2021. His whereabouts are unknown.” West Valley City Police are asking for the public’s help to find Lopez. An $8,500 reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest. If you have any information about Lopez, you are asked to call the West Valley City Police Department tip line at 801-965-5200.
Noel Munoz Lopez Original Parole Hearing: July 21, 2010
Noel Munoz Lopez Parole Rehearing: Feb. 19, 2021
A HEARTBROKEN FAMILY
Farrell Bartschi’s family is heartbroken and wants justice. His daughter, Kim Dixon says what she wants everyone to remember about her father, “Is that he was very kind, loving and “there” for everyone who needed him.”
Bartschi was Nancy Matkin’s uncle. Matkin says, “I want the world to know what Uncle Farrell left behind. A beautiful daughter, grandson, great grand daughter. A grieving widow and a brother. 24 nieces and nephews and 301 great, great great and great great great nieces and nephews. We love our Uncle Farrell and the needless loss of his life affects a huge family. He should still be here with us!”
JAMES DEKOTA BRUNSON
James Dekota Brunson, 25, was paroled from prison on January 7, 2020, straight to UDC’s Fortitude Treatment Center located at 1747 S. 900 West in Salt Lake City. He had been sent to prison in 2017 on convictions of attempted aggravated robbery, assault against a police officer, obstruction of justice and theft.
On January 31st Brunson signed out of FTC at 4:13 in the morning to go to new employee orientation at a temporary agency. The notes indicate Brunson had a return time of 8pm based on the possibility of him being sent out to a job site after orientation. The notes specifically state: “Mr. BRUNSON made no accountability calls while signed out.”
By the time AP&P started calling for him at 8:30pm, he had a 16-hour lead. Brunson has a documented history of absconding from parole and had walked away from FTC once before. Brunson was on the run until he was captured on March 12, 2020, along with his girlfriend Anika Celeste Thorpe who had also absconded from parole. The pair had a cache of stolen weapons, including an AR-15 and ammunition Orem Police say were stolen from a guest in Thorpe’s mother’s home on March 10th. The day after the weapons theft, March 11th Linda Nemelka, 57, was shot to death during a botched carjacking in Millcreek. Brunson and Thorpe are charged with her murder.
ANIKA CELESTE THORPE
Anika Celeste Thorpe, 23, had also been paroled from prison on January 14, 2020. Her supervision level was classified as “Intensive,” the highest level. The supervision records clearly indicate she played games with her AP&P agent almost immediately and he never found out where she was living and quickly lost track of her. On February 26th, her agent tried to contact her. This is what he wrote:
“I tried calling Ms. Thorpe and sent another text message due to no answer. “Anika I’ve now texted you 3 times to go check into the salt lake office. I’ve also tried calling you with no answer. If you are going to play games I’ll request a board warrant.”
Two days later, AP&P agents went to an apartment complex attempting to locate Thorpe. He wrote:
“No answer at the apartment. Spoke with management who advised she is not on the lease and they have not been told she would be staying there.”
A warrant was issued on March 9th, one day before Thorpe and Brunson stole that cache of weapons.
UDC ACCUSES 2NEWS OF CIRCUMVENTING DEPARTMENT’S REDACTIONS
For more than a year now, 2News Investigates has made repeated requests for an on-camera interview with Brian Nielson, the Executive Director of the Utah Department of Corrections. No interviews have ever been granted. We reached out to UDC Communications Director Kaitlin Felsted and notified her of what happened with the batch of records. We asked for an on-camera interview with Nielson, but it was denied. Instead, we received an email statement accusing us of skirting the public records system.
The Department regularly redacts information from government records to protect privacy interests, preserve the integrity of ongoing investigations, and protect the safety of officers, offenders, and public citizens. If a requester or their legal counsel believes information has been incorrectly redacted from records that have been produced to them, the requester has the opportunity to have those redactions reviewed, first by an executive officer from the Department, and then by outside entities like the State Records Committee and the Utah District Court.
With regard to the Department’s redactions you’ve been able to circumvent in a recent production of supervision notes, the redacted information includes information that if released could jeopardize public safety, interfere with ongoing investigations, and invade the privacy of several individuals including minors. We ask that you refrain from disclosing this information publicly until the matter has been resolved. We note that you did not appeal these redactions to Deputy Director Hudspeth within 30 days. However, in the interest of resolving your concerns through the appropriate channels, Deputy Director Hudspeth is willing to review these redactions outside this time frame. We would also agree not to object to a subsequent appeal to the State Records Committee or the Utah District Court on the basis of timeliness. This way, before anything that is harmful to the public is released, the matter is reviewed by the governmental entities that have statutory authority to make a final decision on records classifications.
DIRTY DRUG TESTS
As for the redactions on all those dirty drug tests, Hunt had this to say: “This isn’t a private medical history, this is a condition of their parole agreement. How can you determine whether they’re complying with it unless you know the results?” He added, “You don’t need to get into the medical testing, all the details you just need to know whether the individual failed or did not fail.”
AGENTS NAMES REDACTED:”UNWARRANTED INVASION OF THEIR PERSONAL PRIVACY
UDC also redacted the names of the probation and parole agents throughout the records request citing that it would constitute an unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy. Hunt says, “Those are public officials, they’re performing public functions and the public has a right to know who these individuals are.”
The only exception to that is if they are working in an undercover capacity. However, it is the same explanation 2News Investigates has received over the course of more than a year in all denial letters from UDC GRAMA Coordinator/Records Manager Kara Downer and UDC’s Director of Administrative Services Matthew Anderson, who also oversees the Records Office. We have been repeatedly denied the names of AP&P agents on all GRAMA requests submitted to the department. It is important to note that in February of 2021, the statewide list of AP&P agents with names and job titles were provided to 2News Investigates by UDC Communications Director Kaitlin Felsted. What’s more, the UDC Facebook page which is public, routinely identifies AP&P agents with photographs and shows their names.
UDC also redacted information about the offender’s court cases with narratives about what happened in court on most all the documents. Hunt says, “Court is a public event, court proceedings are open to the public so there doesn’t seem to be any justification for putting that information off limits to the public.”
“IT’S IMPORTANT THAT THEY OPEN UP THEIR RECORDS AND LET US SEE WHAT’S GOING ON”
State Representative Brady Brammer reviewed the records we obtained. Brammer, also an attorney, was troubled by what he saw. “It’s important that they open up their records and let us see what’s going on. When you have multiple parole violations that appear to go without consequence, that does appear to be a breakdown of the system. There are some lessons that likely need to be learned in, in those records,” Brammer said.
Representative Karianne Lisonbee and Brammer have been at the forefront for change and as a result a legislative audit is underway of AP&P and the Board of Pardons and Parole by the Office of the Legislative Auditor General. Brammer didn’t mince words, “We have audit teams that will be looking at this and nothing is redacted for them.”
