This is a statement from former SLOC president Tom Welch regarding the 15-count indictment filed against him and former SLOC vice-president Dave Johnson:
"Today is one of the most disappointing days of my life. I simply cannot express the pain and anguish that my family and I are going through. I am sure the same is true for Dave Johnson and his family.
I want to assure everyone, particularly all those involved with us in bringing the Olympics to Utah, that David Johnson and I committed no crime. We worked as hard as we could to win the bid. I took no pay from the bid effort. I did not ask for or receive anything personally from the Committee or from anyone else.
Dave and I and a lot of others worked around the clock and all over the world for over ten years to bring the Olympics to Utah. We believed then, and I believe now, that we were carrying responsibility for all the people of Utah. Having the Olympics in Utah was a dream when we started. I believed in the good the Olympics do in bringing the world together for a peaceful celebration. I still believe in the Olympics. It is ironic that now that they are reality in Salt Lake for everyone else, Dave and I stand alone in this nightmare.
If I could do anything to save us all this ordeal I would. But to have to plead guilty to something I did not do would be wrong. The idea that we defrauded the Bid Committee or anybody else is preposterous. So is the charge that we bribed anybody. But that does not change the fact that we will be photographed and booked like common criminals.
We and our families must go through the agony of a criminal trial on the eve of the Games because we did what we, and many other people, thought was absolutely necessary and in keeping with the ideals of the community. We will defend ourselves, and we will be acquitted, but no one can possibly understand the heartbreak and disappointment I feel."
