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Friday, July 30, 2010
Federal Judge Upholds Charges Against Artifacts Defendant
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah is refusing to dismiss charges against one of the more than two dozen defendants caught up in a federal sweep of artifact looting.
A defense lawyer argued Friday that the government was piling charges on 48-year-old Loran St. Clair of Monticello.
St. Clair was indicted on multiple counts of selling two seed jars that he got from his mother to a government informant.
His lawyer, Mark Moffatt, argues the sale was a package deal and the government shouldn't be allowed to bring two felony charges, one for each seed jar.
U.S. District Judge Dee Benson in Salt Lake City ruled after a hearing Friday that both charges were justified, plus a third charge blaming St. Clair for stealing the jars from tribal lands.
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