Tim DeChristopher, already facing felony prosecution for his bogus oil and gas lease auction bids, has been handed an $81,000 demand letter by the Bureau of Land Management.

But on Monday, BLM spokeswoman Megan Crandall said the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City was responsible for the request for payment -- written on BLM letterhead -- and referred questions to that office.

Crandall later asserted that because the letter was part of an ongoing criminal investigation, she wouldn't comment on it.

U.S. Attorney for Utah spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch, however, disagreed. "The 'bill' to DeChristopher is not a part of our criminal case," Rydalch said in an e-mail to The Tribune . "It's a BLM administrative action taken independent of our criminal case."

During an interview Friday, even U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman said, "This is not a prosecution for failure to pay."

A federal grand jury last week handed up a two-count felony indictment charging DeChristopher, a 27-year-old University of Utah student, with an attempt to "defeat" a 1987 law that lays out how the BLM conducts competitive oil and gas lease auctions.

Because the BLM refused to comment, it was unclear why the agency would try to collect money from the Dec. 19 auction. The proceedings were halted in January by U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina, who ruled the BLM had failed to obey federal law when it allowed the lease sale to go forward.

On Feb. 4, questioning the validity of the long-range plans the BLM relied on when setting up the lease sale, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar shelved 77 leases that the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and other conservation and historic preservation organizations had sued to remove from the BLM lease list.

Eleven of those parcels were among the 14 DeChristopher won by bidding $1.8 million he never intended to pay in what he called an act of civil disobedience.

To reach the $81,238.50 final figure, the BLM calculated the minimum bid of $2 per acre, each parcel's first-year rent and an administrative fee of $140 for each of the 14 leases he won in bogus bidding.

"You have lost the opportunity to obtain these lease parcels," the letter says. "Regardless, the amounts specified above are still required to be remitted. We are initiating the BLM collection process and you will receive a bill and demand letter under separate cover."

Lawyer Pat Shea, who with prominent defense attorney Ron Yengich is representing DeChristopher, received the letter Friday.

DeChristopher must appeal to the Interior Board of Land Appeals, a process that can take years, before it can proceed to civil court -- where it really belongs, Shea said.

"In my opinion, it's piling on," he said.

DeChristopher on Jan. 8 announced he'd collected $45,000 in $10 and $20 donations to pay the BLM what he calculated would be a proper down payment on the full $1.8 million. The idea was to put the land into conservation easements, Shea said.

Former agency spokeswoman Mary Wilson said at the time the ploy wouldn't work and that DeChristopher was liable for a minimum of $81,238.50 on auction day, with the nearly $1.8 million due no later than Jan. 6.

DeChristopher said Wednesday he had contacted the down-payment donors and returned the money if his supporters said they wanted it back.