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SALT LAKE CITY — State Rep. Phil Lyman has paid off the remainder of his federal restitution stemming from his conviction for leading an ATV protest ride in an archaeologically sensitive southeastern Utah canyon.
Documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court show the Blanding Republican wrote a personal check for $86,305.61, which includes a $1,000 fine.
Lyman said after a court hearing last month that he wanted to pay the debt “to be done with this ridiculous nonsense.”
In 2015, a jury convicted Lyman of misdemeanor trespassing for an ATV ride he led through Recapture Canyon, which the Bureau of Land Management had closed to off-road vehicles, to protest federal land management policies. He spent 10 days in jail. Judge David Nuffer also ordered him to pay $95,955 in restitution to the BLM.
Lyman had been paying a court-ordered $100 a month. The government unsuccessfully tried to get a judge to raise the payment to $500, claiming that his income had increased after his election to the Utah House.
Lyman, a CPA, showed he was making less money after giving up his seat as a San Juan County commissioner to serve in the Legislature.
