The alleged crime occurred on April Fools’ Day 2017, when a corral gate was closed on Lime Ridge in Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument, a move San Juan County prosecutors described as a calculated attempt to kill cattle and disrupt a livestock operation.
Not exactly a capital offense, but worthy of a felony conviction and prison time, in the eyes of local authorities who see attacks on ranching as a threat to southeastern Utah’s culture, custom and commerce.
The case came to an end exactly two years later in a Monticello courtroom Monday, when the alleged malefactor, Mark Franklin, pleaded “no contest” to two misdemeanors in a deal that spares Franklin the stigma of a conviction.