NORTH SALT LAKE—As an attorney, Stewart Young has been in the courtroom, investigated and prosecuted public corruption, violent street gang-affiliated conspiracies and most recently served as a counterterrorism prosecutor in Amman, Jordan. Young was recently appointed as Criminal Deputy Attorney General in the Utah Attorney General’s Office to run the Criminal Department for the state of Utah. 

“I’ll miss the courtroom,” said Young. “But I definitely enjoy being at the Attorney General’s. The support staff is working hard. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Young has been a federal prosecutor in white collar crime for more than 13 years. “I investigated Ponzi schemes, fraud and other public corruption,” he said. “I helped run the gang unit and investigated violent crimes. Mostly in Salt Lake Valley but I’d go other places too.”

He has also been the lead or co-counsel on 20 felony jury trials and 22 appellate briefs. 

Young recently finished a deployment in Amman, Jordan. “We were on a U.S. military base,” he said. “Missiles would fly over and we’d be in the bunker. None of them hit the base but they’d get shot down in Jordan and come down by us. I was there for more than 100 days on the base. It was very different from North Salt Lake.”

Although he’s worked with the Mexican mafia, cartels and gangs, Young said he’s never felt worried or threatened. “Having missiles coming over was the only time I’ve been scared.”

Young is a Stanford Law School and Princeton University graduate. He started his career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of California. He was a tenure-track law professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law for several years. Young also clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Judge Paul Cassell at the United States District Court for the District of Utah.

Shortly after Young returned from Jordan, Attorney General Derek Brown approached him about joining his team. “He asked if I’d be willing to come on and run the Criminal Department,” said Young. “I was excited to do that. We have about 50 investigators. We have a Medicare fraud division, patient abuse division and a white collar division on a large scale for the state. We take most corruption cases, internet crimes against kids cases and sextorsion.”

The department also handles insurance fraud and drug cases such as fentanyl in the state, he said. “We work with all of these prosecutors.”

The gangs in Utah work together, said Young. “It’s the rainbow coalition. There’s about 20 individuals in different gangs who work together on drug conspiracies. Each gang has their own color. In Utah it’s green (all about money). They all get together to make money even if they don’t like each other.”

There’s lots of fentanyl, he said. “It’s mostly pills but there is some powder. We got 8,000-10,000 pills in one seizure. A batch can get just a little, some might have a lot and cause overdoes. There’s especially been a surge of fentanyl.”

They also oversee the Children’s Justice Centers, said Young. “There are centers in 25 of the 29 counties in Utah. They run it but we have programs helping them with funding. They’re under my purview.”

At the centers they do the interviews and exams in a safe space, he said. “It’s very important. They do a good job. I’m really proud of the justice centers.”

Young intends on fostering great relationships with local police departments, local prosecutors and deepening resources. “I’m happy to act as a resource for all law enforcement groups,” he said. “I’d like to do fraud workshops for older folks and help them know what to watch out for. We want people to be safe and watch out for fraudsters.”

So far each day has been different, said Young. “I’ve really liked working with the Attorney General and his team. It’s been a trip.”