Free Republic

Tim DeChristopher was convicted yesterday of two federal counts related to fraudulently bidding on oil and gas leases auctioned by the Bureau of Land Management. He faces a maximum 10 years in federal prison and fines. Prosecutors have stated that they will not seek the maximum sentence. DeChristopher will be sentenced in June 2011. Tim DeChristopher is a convicted tree hugger who was out to disrupt the legal bidding of land for lease for development of oil and natural gas. Instead of seeking legal avenues to redress his grievances, which we all have as citizens, he chose to disrupt the...

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man who infiltrated a sale of federal energy leases in December 2008 to protest U.S. policies about climate change was found guilty by a jury Thursday of disrupting a government auction and faces up to 10 years in prison. The defendant, Tim DeChristopher, 29, became a folk hero to some in the environmentalist movement for taking action against the leases, which provoked protests and demonstrations in the closing days of the administration of President George W. Bush because of the perceived risk to sensitive lands in southern Utah. In his four-day trial in federal...

The University of Utah student who disrupted an oil and gas drilling lease auction last month says he has raised $14,000 of the $45,000 he needs to pay the federal Bureau of Land Management to hold 13 parcels he won. Tim DeChristopher won the parcels and ran up the bidding on others in an effort to foil the Dec. 19 auction, which drew controversy from the start because of concerns the drilling could damage Utah's wild lands and would be too close to some national parks. DeChristopher said he never had any intention to develop or pay for the parcels....