Blanding man pleads guilty to making threats in artifacts case

A Blanding man accused of threatening an FBI source who was an informant in an archaeological artifacts bust earlier this year pleaded guilty in federal court Friday.

Charles Denton Armstrong, 44, appeared before U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups after a plea deal was brokered in which attorneys will recommended Armstrong be sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to retaliate against an informant.

Armstrong was indicted in July after he was accused of threatening someone he believed was an informant in the large-scale, 2 1/2-year sting that led to the indictment of 26 individuals, including James Redd, Armstrong's doctor. After James Redd and his wife, Jeanne Redd, were indicted, James Redd committed suicide.

According to a complaint filed against Armstrong in July, investigators were able to develop "a significant confidential source" who aided them in their investigation of those believed to be digging for artifacts on federal land. Prosecutors said this source was able to purchase 256 archaeological artifacts and capture most of the transactions on tape.

Following the death of James Redd, Armstrong contacted a "confidential witness" for the state and said he knew who the source was and that he was going "to take care of him," because he blamed the source for Redd's death, prosecutors said.

Armstrong's attorney, Lynn Donaldson, said it was most likely Armstrong's closeness to Redd and anger over Redd's death, combined with the fact that he was "heavily medicated at the time," that led him to threaten the FBI source. Donaldson also said there was no way Armstrong would have followed through with the threat.

But prosecutor Carlie Christensen said her office can't make decisions based on what may or may have happened.

"Because it strikes at the heart of our justice system, it's important that we treat these things seriously," Christensen said.

Armstrong told a federal officer that he had planned to tie the source to a tree and beat him with a stick, the complaint states. He then clarified that when he said "a stick," he meant a baseball bat. He allegedly said he didn't want to kill the source, just "hurt him real bad."

Federal agents found the source's name handwritten on a note in Armstrong's car. Armstrong faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

e-mail: emorgan@desnews.com