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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A federal magistrate has set conditions for release of just-resigned neo-Nazi leader Shaun A. Walker pending his trial on hate-crime charges.
The conditions set Wednesday by Magistrate Judge David Nuffer include finding a place to live in Utah, surrendering his passport and having no contact with co-defendants, victims, witnesses in his case or members of his National Alliance or similar groups.
Walker, 38, will remain in the Salt Lake County jail at least until July 5, the date Nuffer set for another hearing to get confirmation that the living arrangements have been made.
Walter was transfered over the weekend to Utah from West Virginia, where the National Alliance is based.
His attorney, Robin Ljungberg, said Walker resigned as national chairman of the National Alliance after his June 8 arrest.
Walker and two Salt Lake City members of the organization, Travis D. Massey, 29, and Eric G. Egbert, 21, were indicted June 7 on charges of conspiracy to interfere with civil rights and interference with a federally protected activity.
A federal grand jury alleges that the three conspired to provoke fights with persons perceived to be "nonwhite" to make them afraid to work, live or appear in public in Salt Lake City.
The indictment says the men assaulted a Mexican-American employee of O'Shucks, a downtown Salt Lake City bar, on Dec. 31, 2002, and on March 15, 2003, Massey assaulted an American Indian man at Port O' Call, another downtown establishment.
The three defendants are scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 21.
Massey and Egbert were released earlier this month under conditions similar to the ones that Nuffer is imposed on Walker.
At Wednesday's hearing, prosecutor Carlos Esqueda argued that Walker is a flight risk and asked the magistrate to keep him behind bars. He said the National Alliance is a hate group with cells in the United States and Europe.
He said that in the past few years, Walker has traveled to European countries, including England and Germany, to given talks to National Alliance members.
Ljungberg said membership in the National Alliance is not a crime.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
