Paul Petersen is a former public official in Arizona who was accused of smuggling pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to at least three different states, as part of an adoption scheme.
They later told investigators they believed the home to be a part of a "baby mill" and they saw many women sleeping on mattresses on the floor.
[7] Petersen was charged by officials from Utah, Arizona, and Arkansas in October 2019 in relation to allegedly smuggling pregnant women from the Marshall Islands into the United States for the adoption of their children.
[3] In Arizona, Petersen was charged with twenty-nine counts of fraudulent schemes and three counts of conspiracy, theft and forgery, along with eleven other felonies including communications fraud, human smuggling and sale of a child in Utah, and nineteen federal charges relating to the illegal entry of individuals to Arkansas.
Prior to his conviction, Petersen, a Republican, was elected twice to be the Maricopa County Assessor[11] and an adoption lawyer licensed in Utah, Arizona, and Arkansas.