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VERNAL — Twenty-five environmental activists entered no-contest pleas Thursday to charges stemming from two protests at a tar sands mine that is under construction in Uintah County.
Lionel Patrick Trepanier, 50, and Melanie Jane Martin, 31, were the only ones to enter their pleas in court before 8th District Judge Ed Peterson. The remaining 23 defendants were allowed to enter their no-contest pleas in sworn affidavits submitted to the court.
Trepanier was part of a group of 21 protesters who were arrested during a July 21 protest at the mine site near PR Springs, about 90 miles south of Vernal. He was charged with failure to stop at the command of law enforcement, a third-degree felony, and criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor.
Under the terms of a deal with Uintah County prosecutors, Trepanier pleaded no-contest to both charges Thursday. He entered a diversion agreement on the felony count, and the misdemeanor charge is being held in abeyance.
Both charges will be dismissed — and the court will enter a conviction for disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor — if Trepanier completes 120 hours of community service, has no new criminal convictions during the next 18 months, and stays at least 300 feet away from the U.S. Oil Sands site.
There may not be an absolute balance, but we've tried to strike some sort of balance as best we could in this matter.
–G. Mark Thomas, Uintah County attorney
Martin, who was one of five people arrested during a Sept. 23 protest at the mine, pleaded no-contest to criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor. Her conviction is being held in abeyance for one year and will be dismissed if she completes 40 hours of community service and has no new criminal convictions during that time.
"There may not be an absolute balance, but we've tried to strike some sort of balance as best we could in this matter," Uintah County Attorney G. Mark Thomas said when asked about the plea agreements outside the courtroom Thursday.
"The intent was not to inhibit them from exercising any of their free speech rights," the prosecutor said. "The intent was to discourage them from crossing over the line and violating a law."
In addition to Trepanier, prosecutors filed charges that ranged from rioting and interfering with an arrest to criminal trespass against Elizabeth Arce, Jesse Jordan Fruhwirth, Laura Gottesdiener, Daniel Joseph Gruppo, Melinda Hatch, Eliana Correa-Hernandez, Camila Allison Ibanez, Anna Dorothy Leopold, Melody Brianna Leppard, Valerie Montana Love, Damien Thomas Luzzo, Maribel Alejandra Mercado, Samuel Ralph Neubauer, Belmont T. Pinger, Victor Enrique Puertas, Eric Michael Recchia, Ashlyn Danielle Ruga, Lorenzo Daniel Serna, Tabitha Skervin, and Cynthia Francis Spoon for their alleged actions during the July 21 protest.
Gruppo was also arrested during the Sept. 23 protest, along with Martin, Alexandra Lynn Binder, Christopher Broom and Christopher Thomas Schiano. They were all charged with criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor.
Charges filed against 21 arrested at tar sands protest
Uintah County prosecutors have filed felony and misdemeanor charges against 21 people who were arrested during a July protest at the site of a controversial tar sands mine.Gruppo was the only protester to receive jail time, however, the six-month sentence was suspended as part of his deal with prosecutors. Like Trepanier, some of the activists are barred from being within 300 feet of the U.S. Oil Sands site as a condition of their plea agreements. All of the activists must complete community service on behalf of a nonprofit organization recognized by the court.
"Protest hours do not count as community service," Judge Peterson told the defendants and their attorneys, adding that any violation of the plea agreements would result in "serious jail time."
Raphael Cordray, a spokeswoman for Utah Tar Sands Resistance, said the activists are satisfied with the outcome of the court cases. She said the number of people charged and the seriousness of the charges leveled against them "caused a lot more attention to come to this issue."
"That's what we've been trying to do," Cordray said. "If people actually knew the details and the facts, most people in this state wouldn't support these projects."
Officials with U.S. Oil Sands have said that 200 exploratory wells at the mine site show that 190 million barrels of oil can be successfully recovered. The company holds leases to nearly 6,000 acres of school trust lands in northeastern Utah, has passed all state regulatory hurdles so far, and expects to begin mining operations by the end of 2015.
