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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A college student hopes the $45,000 he raised to cover his bids at a government oil-and-gas auction will keep him from being indicted on fraud charges.
Tim DeChristopher of Salt Lake City infiltrated the auction last month to run up prices for others and to try to protect wild areas in Utah. He ended up the winner of 22,500 acres between Arches and Canyonlands national parks but acknowledged he didn't have the money to pay for the parcels.
DeChristopher, his supporters and lawyers announced Friday that they had raised $45,000 to make a down payment on the 13 parcels.
DeChristopher said he appreciated the support from donors but wasn't certain if his money would be accepted. If it isn't, he said he'd use the money to buy the same parcels if they go up for bid again.
It wasn't immediately clear if the fundraising effort will keep the University of Utah economics student out of trouble.
"It's too late for him t o pay for anything," said Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Mary Wilson in Salt Lake City. "You have to pay that day, in addition to meaning to pay. You have to put up the cash."
She said DeChristopher owed a $81,238.50 deposit immediately after the Dec. 19 auction. BLM is the federal agency that leases public lands for energy development.
The auction is the subject of a legal challenge from environmental groups, and the government has agreed not to cash checks from any bidders until a federal judge in Washington, D.C., decides whether the auction of wild parcels was legal. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina has promised to rule by Jan. 19.
The government submitted a written response to that lawsuit on Friday, asserting the auction was held in full compliance with government land-use plans and suggesting the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance take its complaints to Congress, which could rewrite the laws. The government said broad new management plans mad e possible the lease of parcels in wild areas and near national parks but that, in a compromise with the National Park Service, the BLM had pulled parcels from the auction list that touched the boundaries of Arches and Canyonlands parks.
"At bottom," the government filing said, "SUWA simply disagrees with the manner in which BLM has decided to exercise its broad discretion."
DeChristopher has said he expects to be charged for making false bids. But one of his lawyers said Friday that with the money, DeChristopher is following the lead of environmental groups that legitimately acquire grazing leases on public lands to retire them.
Pat Shea, who was head of the Bureau of Land Management during the Clinton administration, insisted the $45,000 represents the minimum DeChristopher owed on leases that will cost more than $1.7 million. Bidders don't have to pay the full amount on a parcel until drilling starts, he said.
Nothing prevents DeChristopher from acq u iring parcels he doesn't plan to develop, and few government parcels ever see oil or gas drilling because of the speculative nature of the business, he said.
DeChristopher raised the $45,000 largely in small amounts from thousands of supporters. One of the largest donations, $5,000, came from a California-based group called Voice of the Environment, said Celia Alario, an environmental advocate in Moab and one of the organizers who help raised the money.
BLM criminal investigators have referred a complaint about DeChristopher's bidding to U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman in Salt Lake City. Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for Tolman, refused comment Friday on whether DeChristopher could avoid prosecution by offering some money for his leases.
Federal prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek charges. When DeChristopher registered as a bidder, he had to sign a statement making himself liable for fraud charges for any "false representations" at the auction.
Shea said the BLM and prosecutors haven't determined whether the government can or should accept the $45,000 on behalf of DeChristopher's bidding. Shea said he wouldn't attempt to deliver the money and will deposit it in a trust account instead.
Tim DeChristopher of Salt Lake City infiltrated the auction last month to run up prices for others and to try to protect wild areas in Utah. He ended up the winner of 22,500 acres between Arches and Canyonlands national parks but acknowledged he didn't have the money to pay for the parcels.
DeChristopher, his supporters and lawyers announced Friday that they had raised $45,000 to make a down payment on the 13 parcels.
DeChristopher said he appreciated the support from donors but wasn't certain if his money would be accepted. If it isn't, he said he'd use the money to buy the same parcels if they go up for bid again.
It wasn't immediately clear if the fundraising effort will keep the University of Utah economics student out of trouble.
"It's too late for him t o pay for anything," said Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Mary Wilson in Salt Lake City. "You have to pay that day, in addition to meaning to pay. You have to put up the cash."
She said DeChristopher owed a $81,238.50 deposit immediately after the Dec. 19 auction. BLM is the federal agency that leases public lands for energy development.
The auction is the subject of a legal challenge from environmental groups, and the government has agreed not to cash checks from any bidders until a federal judge in Washington, D.C., decides whether the auction of wild parcels was legal. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina has promised to rule by Jan. 19.
The government submitted a written response to that lawsuit on Friday, asserting the auction was held in full compliance with government land-use plans and suggesting the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance take its complaints to Congress, which could rewrite the laws. The government said broad new management plans mad e possible the lease of parcels in wild areas and near national parks but that, in a compromise with the National Park Service, the BLM had pulled parcels from the auction list that touched the boundaries of Arches and Canyonlands parks.
"At bottom," the government filing said, "SUWA simply disagrees with the manner in which BLM has decided to exercise its broad discretion."
DeChristopher has said he expects to be charged for making false bids. But one of his lawyers said Friday that with the money, DeChristopher is following the lead of environmental groups that legitimately acquire grazing leases on public lands to retire them.
Pat Shea, who was head of the Bureau of Land Management during the Clinton administration, insisted the $45,000 represents the minimum DeChristopher owed on leases that will cost more than $1.7 million. Bidders don't have to pay the full amount on a parcel until drilling starts, he said.
Nothing prevents DeChristopher from acq u iring parcels he doesn't plan to develop, and few government parcels ever see oil or gas drilling because of the speculative nature of the business, he said.
DeChristopher raised the $45,000 largely in small amounts from thousands of supporters. One of the largest donations, $5,000, came from a California-based group called Voice of the Environment, said Celia Alario, an environmental advocate in Moab and one of the organizers who help raised the money.
BLM criminal investigators have referred a complaint about DeChristopher's bidding to U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman in Salt Lake City. Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for Tolman, refused comment Friday on whether DeChristopher could avoid prosecution by offering some money for his leases.
Federal prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek charges. When DeChristopher registered as a bidder, he had to sign a statement making himself liable for fraud charges for any "false representations" at the auction.
Shea said the BLM and prosecutors haven't determined whether the government can or should accept the $45,000 on behalf of DeChristopher's bidding. Shea said he wouldn't attempt to deliver the money and will deposit it in a trust account instead.
