Staying true to Tom Petty’s song, “I Won’t Back Down,” Tim DeChristopher is pursuing a new argument to have his charges dismissed.
The federal government said 25 previous cases exist in Utah where bidders did not pay for bids made at auctions held by the Bureau of Land Management, and none of the bidders were prosecuted, according to The Associated Press. However, the federal government did not disclose reasons why it did not prosecute any of the previous bidders who did not pay.
DeChristopher’s lawyers plan to use the admission as evidence of selective prosecution8212;that the senior in economics was unfairly singled out8212;though they have not yet filed the necessary papers for the defense, prosecutors told the AP.
DeChristopher also said former President George W. Bush’s administration violated environmental laws by selling the land in the auction. Many of the leases sold in the auction were later blocked by a federal judge, according to the AP.
“There’s people who didn’t have the money, but they didn’t have the intent to disrupt (the auction),” U.S. attorney John Huber told the AP.
On Nov. 16, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson denied DeChristopher’s previous defense, which claimed he made the fraudulent bids in a necessary defense of the environment. Benson ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to support the defense.
Matt Weathered, a sophomore in philosophy and English, said he’s pulling for DeChristopher’s new defense to be successful.
“I hope it works,” Weathered said. “I think his actions were justified. I have no grounds to condemn him for (what he did).”
DeChristopher made bids at an auction last December, winning 13 land leases worth $1.7 million that he would later say in public that he had no intention of paying for.
“(His method) was creative,” Weathered said. He said he is not optimistic that DeChristopher will be able to avoid jail time. “I’m sure they’ll nail him for it.”
DeChristopher’s trial is set for March 15 to March 17. If he’s found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
DeChristopher and his attorneys could not be reached for comment.
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