Four plead not guilty to witness tampering

Courts • One of the accused men was a fundraiser for John Swallow.

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Three brothers and a fourth man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a witness-tampering charge for allegedly pummeling a person in an attempt to prevent them from testifying in a legal proceeding.

Robert W. Montgomery Jr., 35, Salt Lake City, a former campaign fundraiser for former Utah Attorney General John Swallow, was arrested last week and made a first appearance in federal court this week.

JD Montgomery, 28; Michael C. Montgomery, 29; and Jeremy R. Ertmann, 36, also made first appearances for alleging assaulting a person identified in a grand jury indictment by the initials A.T.H.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office for Utah declined to identify the alleged victim or comment on what case he or she was to testify in.

The four were arrested last week on an indictment that was filed Aug. 6 and unsealed Tuesday.

In April 2012, Robert Montgomery and then-Attorney General Mark Shurtleff co-hosted a fundraiser for Swallow, Shurtleff's chief deputy who was running for attorney general, at a Mimi's Cafe.

Robert 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.