NewsNational News

Actions

Stiff adoption scheme term sought for Arizona ex-politician

AP
Posted at 1:00 PM, Mar 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-17 20:35:15-04

PHOENIX — Arizona prosecutors are seeking the stiffest possible prison sentence for a former metro Phoenix politician convicted in an illegal adoption scheme.

It could land him behind bars for as many as 18 years.

Paul Peterson is a Republican who was Maricopa County’s elected assessor.

Petersen will be sentenced Friday in Phoenix on fraud convictions stemming from his acknowledged operation of an illegal adoption scheme in Arizona, Arkansas and Utah.

Arizona prosecutors have not publicly disclosed precisely how many years they will seek. But in court records, they say they want aggravated sentences for Petersen on multiple convictions that would be served consecutively, rather than at the same time.