Three Pinal County residents have filed a civil suit against Gary Pierce, Sherry Pierce, Jim Norton and George Johnson in connection to the criminal charges they face in federal court.
The four were indicted in May over allegations that they conspired to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, a scheme revealed to authorities by an unindicted co-conspirator.
On Monday, Tisha Castillo, Karen Christian and Steve Pratt, customers of Johnson’s water company, Johnson Utilities, filed a class action complaint claiming they paid water charges that were inflated by the “corrupt activities” of the defendants, the Yellow Sheet Report said Tuesday.
They claimed that tens of thousands of people might have been impacted by the alleged scheme. Citing the criminal indictment, the plaintiffs allege Johnson and his fellow defendants engaged in a pattern of racketeering, using “mail fraud and wire fraud to operate the enterprise and effectuate Johnson’s goal of charging his customers higher prices for water and wastewater services.”
The Yellow Sheet reports the complaint goes on, Pierces and Norton did not reveal their alleged roles in the scheme that plaintiffs allege led to higher rates for Johnson’s customers. “Because the scheme perpetrated by Defendants to increase water rates and offset Johnson’s income taxes was unlawful, it would be unjust to allow Defendants to retain the benefits conferred upon them by Plaintiffs and the class,” the complaint concludes. The plaintiffs demand a jury trial.
