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CEDAR CITY — A man who pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen skid steer and later asking a friend to falsify a bill of sale in an apparent attempt to validate the transaction has been ordered to serve up to five years in prison.
Travis Jon Klett, 37, was sentenced in 5th District Court in Cedar City on July 15 by Judge Matthew L. Bell, who ordered that Klett serve concurrent terms of up to five years in prison for two third-degree felony counts, attempting to receive stolen property valued at over $5,000 and obstruction of justice.
Klett was arrested in Cedar City on Feb. 27 after Iron County sheriff's detectives received information that Klett was in possession of and was operating a skid steer that had been reported stolen from Brigham Young University.
Nearly two months later, on April 23, Klett reportedly made a phone call from Iron County Jail to a friend asking her to create a bill of sale affirming that he had paid $8,000 cash for the skid steer, which was identified as a 2017 Ditch Witch model SK1050. According to the charges, Klett directed his friend to "rough it up a bit" to make the document appear older and to bring it to court.
