This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A businessman with a checkered past and ties to former Attorney General John Swallow is in custody in the Salt Lake County Jail along with his two brothers, awaiting transfer to U.S. marshals, potentially to face unknown federal charges.
Robert Montgomery, owner of Emmediate Credit Solutions, was arrested Friday morning, along with brothers Michael Chase Montgomery and J.D. Montgomery.
Jail records do not reflect what charges the Montgomery brothers face. Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Utah, said she could not provide any information about the case. A message left with the U.S. Marshals Service was not returned Friday.
Robert Montgomery's attorney did not know about an arrest when he was contacted Friday morning. He did not return a follow-up message left in the afternoon.
In April 2012, Montgomery and then-Attorney General Mark Shurtleff co-hosted a fundraiser for Swallow, Shurtleff's chief deputy who was running for attorney general, at Mimi's Cafe in Murray. Attendees included a number of members of the online-business opportunities, or BizOps, industry.
Online marketers and telemarketing companies donated more than $200,000 to Swallow's 2012 election and about $570,000 to Shurtleff's campaigns. In affidavits accompanying search warrants issued during the investigation that led to a combined 23 criminal charges against Swallow and Shurtleff, a staffer on Swallow's campaign referred to Robert Montgomery as "the lowest of the low … a real scumbag."
The staffer said Montgomery kicked in money to the campaign, but there are no reported donations from him on Swallow's campaign financial disclosures.
Montgomery has had a series of run-ins with the law, including being sentenced to 57 months in prison on a federal weapons charge in 2003.
He pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen gun, which he was barred from having due to a previous felony conviction. His sentence was subsequently shortened after an appeal.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Montgomery got his start in the BizOps industry a few years earlier, working for Jeremy Johnson's I Works company. Johnson is accused of defrauding customers out of $280 million and faces federal civil and criminal actions.
Since 2007, Montgomery has been owner and CEO, first of Concepts Execution LLC and more recently Emmediate Credit Solutions.
A year ago, Montgomery entered into an agreement with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection over violations of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act, the Utah Telephone Fraud Prevention Act and the Postsecondary Proprietary Schools Act.
The violations could have packed a $25,000 fine, but Montgomery agreed to pay $12,500 under a settlement and desist from any violations of the laws for at least 18 months, according to Jennifer Bolton, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Commerce.