ST. GEORGE — A Colorado man appeared for sentencing Thursday on multiple felony charges filed in Washington County, and once he completes his sentence in Utah, he will be extradited to his home state to face an attempted murder charge.
Joshua Stephen Williamson, 39, was sentenced on one second-degree felony count of pattern of criminal activity and five third-degree felony charges including two counts of unlawful acquisition of a financial card and multiple dangerous possession charges related to dangerous weapons, marijuana, controlled substances, and ID of another.
Williamson originally faced 27 charges, but the remaining 20 charges were dismissed in exchange for his guilty pleas that were entered into during a hearing in April.
The arrest stems from a report of a suspicious vehicle with Nevada plates in the parking lot of the Walmart on Pioneer Road in St. George.
Officers arrived to find two Colorado residents in the car and both were detained by police. Williamson turned out to be the third man to approach, and he gave officers another name as he attempted to get into the van. His identity was confirmed through child support documents that were found during a search of the van.
While processing the scene in St. George, more than 20 different bank cards and identification cards issued out of Colorado, Nevada and Maryland — none of which belonged to the occupants of the van — were recovered.
Also discovered was a fugitive no-bail warrant issued Jan. 20 out of El Paso County, Colorado, for Williamson on an attempted murder, including assault by strangulation, reckless assault with serious bodily injury and harassment charges. The warrant was forwarded to the Washington County Attorney’s Office and a hold was placed on Williamson.
Judge John J. Walton presided over the sentencing hearing, while prosecutor Philip Soelberg served as supervisor for Cameo Petersen, a Brigham Young University law student, who argued on behalf of the state during the proceedings.
Petersen said the defendant is a “multistate offender” with a lengthy criminal history and who committed multiple felony offenses in Utah. The state asked for Williamson to serve a year in jail with an early release after serving 270 days so the defendant could be extradited to Colorado to answer to the charges there.
Williamson’s defense attorney Michael Lastowski said that while he agreed with the characterization of his client by the state, he did not agree with the proposed sentence.
“I don’t think the state taxpayers of Utah should have to pay to house my client when he’s got a really serious charge he’s facing in Colorado,” Lastowski said.
Lastowski asked that his client be returned to Colorado as soon as possible.
The judge ordered that Williamson serve 180 days in jail with credit for the 88 days he has already served, as well as any good time. Once he has completed the sentence, Walton said, the defendant will be extradited to Colorado directly from the jail.
The defendant also told the court he would be waiving extradition, so a review hearing was scheduled for June 6 to allow Williamson time to sign the waiver prior to completing his sentence in Washington County.
The case against one of the suspects arrested at the time, Nicole Huggins, of Boone, Colorado, is still pending in the courts, while no record could be found for the third suspect under the name provided to police at the time of the arrest.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.