<p>PHOENIX — Arizona authorities are seeking the stiffest possible prison sentence against a former politician in metro Phoenix on fraud convictions stemming from his acknowledged operation of an illegal adoption scheme in three states that involved birth mothers from the Marshall Islands.</p>
<p>Prosecutors haven’t publicly specified the number of years in prison they will seek Friday at what will be the second of three sentencing hearings for Paul Petersen, a Republican who served as Maricopa County’s assessor for six years until his resignation a year ago and also worked as an adoption attorney. </p>
<p>In court records, prosecutors said only that they wanted aggravated sentences that ran consecutively to each other, rather than at the same time. Under such a scenario, Petersen could face as many as 18 years in prison, according to sentencing ranges listed in his plea deals. </p>
<p>Petersen, who is serving a 6-year prison term for a federal conviction in Arkansas stemming from the adoption scheme, is asking for a sentence of five years or less in Arizona — and that he be allowed to serve it while doing his prison term in the Arkansas case.</p>
<p>Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office, which is prosecuting Petersen, called for aggravated sentences in the Arizona cases in a court filing last year, but didn’t respond to a question Tuesday about how many years in prison prosecutors were seeking against the former assessor.</p>
<p>Petersen is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in Utah for human smuggling convictions.</p>
