Judge wants to send message in mink-raid case

When attorneys walked into a courtroom Thursday for the hearing of a man who raided a South Jordan mink farm, they were expecting a sentence of six months, tops.

The defense wanted six months with credit for the four-and-a-half months already served. They wanted their 23-year-old client back in school by January. Prosecutors asked for six months, as well. But U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said he's inclined to sentence the man to more than two years.

"Given what I know, there was way too much threat and terror," Benson said. "I can't be as lenient as six months. I'm inclined to go … to two years, maybe more. This sentence has got to be a deterrent, a message sent to other people."

William James Viehl pleaded guilty to one charge of damaging and interfering with animal enterprises in September in a raid of the McMullin mink farm in South Jordan. He was initially indicted with Alex Hall, 21, on two counts, as prosecutors allege that the men carried out the South Jordan raid and attempted another in Heber City.

Investigators believe the pair released as many as 650 mink in the raid 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." Images of this vandalism and other threatening statements posted on Viehl's MySpace page were used by prosecutors to demonstrate that Viehl's crime was more serious than a simple property-related offense.

"The crime that was committed was not random, it was targeted," said prosecutor John Huber. "The crime itself was designed to intimidate and inspire fear in the victims."

This was evident as Lindsey McMullin, a third-generation mink farmer who runs the family farm, explained the impact the incident has had on his family. At times, he took long pauses to control his emotions as he told the judge about the emotional "roller coaster" this has been for his family as they went from feeling violated to feeling empty to feeling anger. He said one of his sons often can't sleep at night because he's afraid there's someone on their land. His daughter often needs to be comforted, he said.

"Mr. Viehl, I hope down the road, when you have a family, that you never have to sit and explain to your daughter as she asks, 'Are they really going to watch us?' 'Where are they?' " McMullin said.

McMullin spoke of the 50 mink that died as a result of the raid, calling them the "unheard victims" in the case who died in a "cruel, thoughtless manner."