2 Utah men indicted in connection with alleged horse slaughtering ring

SALT LAKE CITY  — A pair of Utah men were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in connection with an alleged scheme investigators say involved the planned, illegal sale of wild horses to Mexico for eventual slaughter.

Robert Wilford Capson, 59, of West Jordan, and Dennis Kay Kunz, 56, of Willard, were charged with wire fraud and false statements after the Bureau of Land Management intercepted and impounded 64 wild horses the agency says were bound for Texas to be resold for slaughter across the border.

Wild horses and burros are protected by the federal government under the provisions of a Congressional act passed in 1971.

The investigation came to a head last month at a port of entry stop outside of Helper on U.S. 6 after BLM agents grew wary of the "purported intentions" of Capson, who said he intended to use the wild horses as rodeo stock in Ibapah, Tooele County, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Horses were purchased on paper by Capson via the Wild Horse and Burro Facility in Herriman and delivered to Willard where Kunz lives, according to the indictment. Kunz was deliberately kept under the radar from the BLM because of his reputation for purchasing horses for slaughter across the border, the indictment states. Such buyers are sometimes referred to as "kill buyers."

The horses, once in Willard, were monitored by agents before being loaded onto a trailer for transport to Presidio, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to the indictment, the trailer was owned by Kunz, who is alleged to have entered into an agreement with Capson to purchase the horses from Capson, and then Capson would turn around and sell them to Kunz's contacts once in Texas.

Investigators allege the plan was concocted in February of 2010 when the pair devised a scheme to purchase the horses through the BLM at a reduced rate, knowing the horses would be slaughtered and processed into commercial products.

Wild horses that have been put out to long-term holding pens can be sold by the BLM, but the transaction is conditioned upon the contractual promise they not be resold for slaughter or reprocessing into commercial products.

The indictment alleges the men used the Internet and fax machines in their dealings with the federal agency and submitted a sales questionnaire to the BLM stating they did not intend to resell the animals purchased.

Both men were charged with four counts of wire fraud, counts of false statement and of aiding and abetting. Wire fraud carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, while false statement carries up five years.

Kunz, reached by telephone late Wednesday, denied the allegations and said he only let his friend, Capson, borrow his land and his truck to haul the horses to another auction site in Texas.

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