Trial date set for five defendants in Native American artifacts case

SALT LAKE CITY — An Oct. 25 trial date has been set for five defendants arrested in a government crackdown on artifacts trafficking.

Co-defendants Joseph M. Smith, Meredith Smith, Tad Kreth, Reece Laws and Brandon Laws will have their cases presented to U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart in a trial slated to run for two weeks.

All residents of Blanding, the five were arrested in June after a 2½-year investigation meant to crack down on the illegal excavation and sale of Native American artifacts. In total, 26 individuals from the Four Corners area faced federal charges.

Much of the government's information was gathered by a paid, undercover source who taped and video-recorded a number of the alleged transactions. The source, later revealed to be former Dan's Foods executive and artifacts collector Ted Gardiner, shot and killed himself March 1.

Six of the original defendants have pleaded guilty. Two of the defendants — James Redd of Blanding and Steven Shrader of New Mexico — committed suicide after charges were filed. The rest of the cases are pending.

— Emiley Morgan