A federal judge is deciding whether prosecutors broke a bargain of asking for only six months of jail time in an animal rights activism case.
William James Viehl agreed to plead guilty to releasing 600 mink from the McMullin Fur Farm in South Jordan on Aug. 19, 2008, and spray-painting a barn with ALF (for Animal Liberation Front) and "We are watching." In exchange, prosecutors said they'd recommend he do six months in jail.
On Nov. 12, Judge Dee Benson said he was planning to give Viehl two years or more in jail.
On Friday, Viehl's defense attorney Heather Harris argued that while prosecutors did say they recommended six months, their presentation before the judge was much more condemning than a six-month sentence would justify. Prosecutors presented a slide show of other victims of animal rights activists and told Benson that while Viehl was being charged with a property crime, "that does not quite capture the offense that was committed by Mr. Viehl."
Harris said that when the government agrees to a plea deal, they have to advocate for it in front of the judge.
"I don't think this is what happened in this case," said Harris, who has petitioned to have a judge other than Benson sentence her client.
Benson, who heard the arguments Friday, said that while he usually is lenient on first-time offenders such as Viehl, he had decided to sentence the 23-year-old Clearfield man to two years or more before the prosecution had the ability to persuade him in court. Benson said he based his decision on the testimony of the mink farm owner. But, he added, the arguments Friday did not center around when he made his decision, but rather if the prosecution upheld their bargain to support a six-month sentence.
"It's like if you and I went to The Cheesecake Factory," he told John Huber, an assistant U.S. attorney on Friday. "And you said the pasta, the cheesecake, everything is delicious, but then you said 'You should just have a cup of tomato soup.' The recommendation would be inconsistent with the buildup."
Benson said he needs to read similar cases and do more research before he makes his decision.
