Two former Logan City employees face federal charges after authorities said they helped an immigrant lacking permanent legal status evade arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jennifer Joma, 27, and Lauren Kelsey Morrow, 26, face charges of conspiracy to transport and harbor people living in the United States illegally, harboring them and obstruction of proceedings before departments and agencies. Joma also faces an additional transportation charge.
The former employees were indicted June 3.
Morrow and Joma were clerks at the Logan Justice Court when an ICE officer arrived at the courthouse April 9 with an administrative warrant to arrest someone, according to the Department of Justice.
The agent decided to wait in his vehicle outside the court so he could arrest his intended target when they left, the news release said.
When Morrow and Joma learned about the impending arrest, the Justice Department alleges, the pair misused court databases to learn the immigration statuses of people who were set to appear in court. They identified several people lacking permanent legal status and helped them leave through a secure area and out the back door of the courthouse, according to the news release.
One of the people they ushered out the back door was the person the ICE officer was at the court to arrest, the Justice Department said.
After the pair’s second trip through the back door, Joma left the courthouse with three people in her car before returning alone, the news release adds.
Joan and Morrow appeared in federal court in Salt Lake City at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse on Thursday, and entered not guilty pleas. Though they had been in custody, court documents indicate that prosecutors are not seeking their detention during the court proceedings. They were released on several conditions, one being that they do not leave the state without permission.
Morrow’s attorney, Adam Crayk, declined to comment on the case. Nathan Duncan, who is representing Joma, according to court documents, did not respond to Utah Public Radio and The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for comment.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.
The court scheduled their plea agreement due date for July 28 and a five-day jury trial for the week of August 18, 2026.
