Throughout the year, the Office of the Utah Attorney General handled a wide range of cases and legal matters that affect people and communities across Utah. This work included prosecuting serious crimes, protecting children from online exploitation, enforcing consumer protection and antitrust laws, defending access to public lands, and representing the state in court on issues involving technology, consumer markets, and government regulation.
The highlights below provide a snapshot of the office’s work over the past year. Together, they reflect how these efforts help protect the public, promote fairness, and ensure that Utah’s laws are enforced consistently and responsibly.
During 2025, the Office of the Utah Attorney General prosecuted over twice as many cases involving internet crimes against children as the office did in 2024. This progress is driven by our dedicated Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force prosecutors and investigators, whose efforts keep Utah kids safe.
Utah recovered $1.52 million from Sandoz, Inc. as part of a multistate enforcement action alleging unlawful price-fixing of numerous generic drugs. The generic drugs antitrust lawsuit was filed to protect Utah’s consumers from price-fixing by drug companies nationwide. This case highlights the state’s longstanding efforts to lower prescription drug costs for Utah families.
The Office of the Utah Attorney General, in cooperation with the San Juan County Attorney’s Office, successfully prosecuted a double murder case. Charles Youngkuom Yoo pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and admitted to killing William Drew Bull and Christopher Owens. Yoo was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Judge Don M. Torgerson in the Seventh District Court.
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown and North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced the formation of a groundbreaking bipartisan AI Task Force. Its mission will be to identify emerging issues related to AI and develop safeguards that AI developers should follow to protect the public as this transformative technology accelerates.
The Office of the Utah Attorney General, the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection, and a bipartisan group of 52 other attorneys general announced that the court indicated it will approve of the states’ and consumers’ $700 million agreement with Google. This settlement resolves the Utah-led complaint against Google for its anticompetitive conduct concerning payment processing and app distribution within the Google Play Store.
On October 21, 2025, Lillian Kaye Simiskey was sentenced to 364 days in jail and ordered to pay more than $2.6 million in restitution after pleading guilty to felony Medicaid fraud, tax evasion, and public assistance fraud. The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Office of the Utah Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Division to protect vulnerable patients and taxpayer dollars.
The Office of the Utah Attorney General, the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection, and the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent with Aylo, the company that owns and operates some of the largest and most-visited pornography websites in the world. This decisive action mandates the implementation of a robust program to remove child sexual abuse material and non-consensual material from Aylo’s platforms. Additionally, Aylo will pay a penalty of $5 million to resolve claims it engaged in unconscionable and deceptive business practices.
The Office of the Utah Attorney General secured the conviction of a man for felony child rape. William Piol Makuei was convicted of first-degree felony child rape by a jury in Third District Court. The September trial lasted one day and ended with Makuei’s conviction.
Utah, the Federal Trade Commission, and a coalition of states filed a lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster for hiding fees and misrepresenting ticket prices. The suit also alleges Ticketmaster encouraged brokers to circumvent the site’s enforcement measures and sell millions of tickets on the secondary market. The Office of the Utah Attorney General and the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection brought claims under the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Attorney General Derek Brown co-led a bipartisan multistate coalition of 50 attorneys general in urging the U.S. Department of Justice to assist in addressing the rampant spread of illegal offshore gaming across the country. The coalition stressed the need for action to combat harm to the rule of law, consumers, and the economy from an unprecedented growth in illicit online gambling.
The Office of the Utah Attorney General achieved a victory that improves access to public lands. In the case of Kane County v. United States, the court ruled that the state and two counties own the legal rights-of-way for Hole in the Rock Road and House Rock Valley Road. This victory supports our ongoing efforts to protect, improve, and enhance access to public lands for all Utahns.
Utah announced a lawsuit against Snap, Inc. that alleges Snap profits from unconscionable design features created to addict children to the app and facilitates illegal drug sales and sextortion. The lawsuit also includes claims related to its AI chatbot, My AI, and comes as states confront the harsh realities of AI technology’s impact on children. Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, and the Utah Department of Commerce’s Executive Director Margaret Busse announced the suit.
Utah won a significant victory in our U.S. Supreme Court case against the Environmental Protection Agency. The court ruled 8-0 in our favor in the case known as Oklahoma v. EPA. Solicitor General Stanford Purser and Assistant Attorney General Marina Thomas were instrumental members of the legal team that successfully argued local courts should hear cases about local issues under the Clean Air Act.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force made Utah’s first known arrest involving the use of cryptocurrency to purchase child sexual abuse material. The Office of the Utah Attorney General charged a 39-year-old Utah man with 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor following an investigation led by investigators from our task force.
Deaun Larson Holdaway was sentenced to two concurrent prison terms by Judge Parker in the Third District Court. Holdaway pleaded guilty to one count of False Claims for Medical Benefits, a second-degree felony, and one count of Public Assistance Fraud, a third-degree felony. The Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Division successfully investigated and prosecuted the case.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force announced 15 arrests as a result of a four-day operation between April 14 and April 17. The Office of the Utah Attorney General hosted a statewide undercover investigation called Operation Hive Strike to locate and apprehend individuals who were actively using the internet to sexually exploit children. Over 80 task force agents from 31 different federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation.
A federal judge issued a ruling upholding Utah’s ban of flavored vape products. Thanks to the work of the Office of the Utah Attorney General, Utah is now able to enforce its law banning flavored electronic cigarettes. This law was passed to help prevent children from developing a lifelong addiction to nicotine.
In a significant legal victory for the state of Utah, Third District Court Judge Coral Sanchez denied TikTok’s motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit filed in June 2024. This marks the advancement of Utah’s second lawsuit against TikTok Inc., which alleges that the company has knowingly allowed the sexual exploitation of young people through the TikTok Live feature in exchange for monetary gain.
Utah and several states announced an agreement in principle to settle lawsuits across the country over opioid harms and abate the injuries in our communities. The proposed agreement amounts to $7.4 billion from the Sacklers and their former company, Purdue Pharma. Utah, through the Office of the Utah Attorney General and the Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection, expects to join the settlement.
