[Moogs]

Given over-crowding problems and the rest, cells should be reserved for those who pose an immediate or likely threat to others, or for the Michael Madoffs of the world whose crimes may not be violent but who turn people's lives upside down. Yes this guy is guilty and yes a felony conviction should go on his record (that's consequence enough; he just severely limited the number of companies that will ever hire him to do anything), and maybe community service (which I'm sure he's happy to do), and that's it. Anything more would be a misuse of government resources and ignoring common sense, generally.

[Wrao]

Updates:

The official charge being considered is "Making a False Statement".

Environmental groups in Utah are soliciting to raise money for the first payments in the leases that DeChristopher won. (which would likely let him off the hook entirely)

DeChristopher said that the Federal Agents that questioned him were reasonable, friendly and even sympathetic.

[Mugge]

I think that's what we in Denmark call a soft belly landing.

[zsummers]

Originally Posted by Wrao Updates: DeChristopher said that the Federal Agents that questioned him were reasonable, friendly and even sympathetic.

I know a commenter whose head just popped off.

Agent: So you're the kid who did this?

Kid: /nods head timidly

Agent: High five, dude!

Kid: Obama forever!

Agent: Obama forever! Let's go hug some trees.

/fist-bumps.

[torifile]

"Making false statements" to whom? I ask again, was there anything even criminal going on here? The beauty of this is that the Bush admin's rush to auction the lands off before Obama came in is the very reason this kid was able to do what he did. It's irony at its finest.

[Wrao]

Not sure, but the punishment for "Making False Statements" is usually a fine, but can be as many as 5 years in prison, depending on the severity of the damages, intent to harm...etc.

[Wrao]

Editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune talked about the case, succinctly put, and I agree with it completely.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_11330541

Relevant quote:

It's easy to say that he should have taken his complaints to court, but right up until time for the sale the BLM was revising the list, creating a moving target.

[Wrao]

Just to keep everyone posted. Tim has raised $14,000 of the $45,000 necessary to hold the bids. It is expected he will reach his goal.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11355914

[Wrao]

Just another friendly update, Tim has raised the funds necessary for the first payment.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_156668.html

[zsummers]

Update: the kid has been charged. He faces up to 5 years. The great news is (a) that he's ready and willing to take it on the nose, but has pleaded not guilty, and (b) he succeeded in shutting down the fraudulent lease program with authority.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/sc...leases.html?hp

What is not in doubt is that most of the specific leases Mr. DeChristopher protested — many of them near national parks or monuments — have not only been deferred or taken off the table by federal land managers in the Obama administration but also scathingly disavowed. A federal judge earlier this year ordered the leases halted pending further review, citing “deficiencies” in the government’s pre-auction assessments. Just this week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, whose agency oversees a huge swath of the nation’s public lands, went even further. “There was a headlong rush to leasing in the prior administration that led to the kinds of shortcuts we have demonstrated,” Mr. Salazar said Thursday in releasing a report about the December auction. In their court filings, federal prosecutors argue that whether Mr. DeChristopher was on some level correct in opposing the leases is irrelevant. Laws were broken, they say. And unlike cases where necessity defenses have been allowed — the classic law-school example is the man lost in the mountains who finds a cabin and must break in to survive — Mr. DeChristopher had legal means of protest he could have chosen, prosecutors say, notably a court challenge that was under way by environmental groups even before the auction. Mr. DeChristopher’s supporters say that the logic is faulty — that the legal challenges and critical government reviews took the course they did in part because of the attention Mr. DeChristopher drew to the issue by putting himself on the line. “It started an avalanche, and the story caught on,” said Ashley Anderson, a friend of Mr. DeChristopher and co-founder of Peaceful Uprising, a group that seeks to expand on Mr. DeChristopher’s actions. The group is organizing what Mr. Anderson said would be a major rally for later this month to support talks to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases.

So this will be interesting: the kid is trying to inject a "necessity" defense. I think it is highly unlikely to come in, because I doubt the judge wants to deal with competing experts on global warming, etc. But I do think he has a strong chance of swaying a juror or two to let him off even if the full defense doesn't come in.

And I've got to hope the judge will let him off lightly if convicted. Obama is very unlikely to pardon him, even as the administration "scathingly disavows" the auctions he stopped.