Ogden man pleads guilty to 2008 mink farm raid

SALT LAKE CITY — The second of two men arrested in an August 2008 South Jordan mink raid pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday.

Alex Jason Hall, 21, of Ogden, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson to one count of damaging and interfering with an animal enterprise, admitting his part in an Aug. 19, 2008, raid at the McMullin mink farm.

Investigators believe he and William James Viehl, 23, of Layton, released as many as 650 minks and also vandalized a number of buildings on the property with phrases such as "No More Mink, No More Murder" and "ALF: We Are Watching." The damage and loss to the McMullin farm was estimated at $66,753.

Viehl was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay full restitution in February, with the anticipation that the amount will be split between Viehl and Hall when Hall is sentenced. Hall faces up to five years in prison.

— Emiley Morgan