Comments about ‘Mother, daughter plead guilty in artifacts theft case’

Can anyone tell me how to find out when the others go before the judge to plea? Very interested in what the others do. It looks like maybe the Redds are going to be used to make the case even stronger against the others. Very curious.

Why wasn't all this stuff sacred when the government was exterminating the Indians way back when. I suppose pots and necklaces are more important than people.

number 1, it is illegal, 2 just because you can doesn't make it legal 3 live the law of the land 4 i am sure your wise church leaders gave council follow.. when a general authority says it's ok to dig up the dead then go ahead. Forth if that develops besure to tell all the members over in new zealand , hawaii , australia that is ok to start escavating because where ever them people went must not have been sacred...then open it up to nauvoo and anywhere the LDS faith went on their long walk. Then finally these artifacts were overkill to say the least...wasn't everyone irrate when those LDS elders took those pictures of disturbing that catholic shrine in colorado. Or is this just another form of spiritual genocide or lack of respect for people who were here before you? For such a supposedly spiritual people it is beyond me how the truth does not ring louder must be blocked by the almighty dollar. Right now there are members and non-members writing the church authorities to express their out rage of some who claim "everybody does it"you do

Never, ever, plead guilty to anything. They should have taken this to trial.

is like living in Nazi land for a native american judging by some of these comments!

Government owns the property. You take something off that property it is called stealing. It is a federal offense therefor a crime.

So you say that they raided these "non-criminal, homes", the fact that they STOLE makes them criminals.

Also. Have you ever thought that maybe the Native American people do not want publicity, but to have their heritage honored as they honor it. Plundering their heritage seems like a greater offense than you give it credit for.

Please think before you speak. Twice in the head, once out of the mouth.

Dig for life, and if you dont like it then dont do it.

and liers not being able to trust each other? Sounds like they just didn't care now that they care it is the ones who they dont care about that better start caring!

Let's see if I understand - the daughter was charged with digging a broken clay vessel out of the dirt, repairing it and then displaying it in her home.

Sounds like we should watch our landfills for possible other crimminals. They might dig up a broken Miracle Whip jar!

So much for innocent community members. These grave-diggers deserve jail time.

They did the crime it's time to do the time.

in Blanding sent a text. "Don't pickup beer cans on the reservation, they are future Indian artifacts". He makes more sense than all of you do gooders who don't want anyone taking home an old broken dish and spending hours glueing the puzzle back together to put on their shelf. Shame on you!

This abusive intrusion of government should anger all of us, and concern us that our humane rights can be trampled so flagrantly by the federal government. That leaders such as Ken Salazar can make such crass statements in support of the abuse. No one in Blanding has said that the people invovled did not break the law. It is the objectionable enforecement of the law that is in question. While these are crimes, they do not warrant the physical and verbal abuse used by these "enforcement officials". When was the last time any of you were handcuffed for jay walking, speeding, or political officials prosecuted for smoking marijuana (even if they don't inhale) or lying to the people and congress under oath. You are a fool to think that there is not a double standard being applied. Few of these objects are burial objects, they are found in trash piles, storage pits, in holes, plowed up in fields, exposed in washes. As far as cultural heritage, the Navajos and Utes are no more descendants of the Anasazi than people of European or Asian descent. The people of Blanding have a great deal of reverance for that ancient culture.

In Les Misrables, Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread and was sentenced to 5 years.

In the Robin Hood tales, the penalty for killing a deer on the king's land was death.

Today, the penalty for taking a discarded clay pot from government land is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

We are repeating the drama of history.

To: RLyman
Prison if full of people that feel that law enforcement was heavy handed during their arrest. They all claim to be innocent as well.

If you don't want to be roughed up by the cops, don't break the law!

Federal Property belongs to the People, The Government is not a seperate enity.
State Property is also property of the People.
This is what is wrong with America.
Without the People the State is Nothing.

Believe me, I'm not in support of desecrating Native American burial grounds or anything of the sort, but I think it's horrible that these "thieves" are being punished so severely for removing artifacts from Federal Property. That a felony count can be assigned to a single pot or jar is ridiculous. Three clay pots = three felony counts. And worse yet that a man can feel so embarrased and upset that he takes his own life because of an old piece of pottery? Where does mercy rob justice here? When ancient Native Americans were alive it would have been robbery; they are the only ones who could make a claim on it. Now it shouldn't belong to anyone.

Quit crying you control all the Indian money in all the programs , this is a little old fashion karma coming down...too many white chiefs and not enough Real Indians...but then it is all passed aside because why the utes or navajoes aren't really from this area but the money why that's another matter.

Are there diffences? These people took things from Tribal lands, not just Federal lands. And is this any different from rock hounding the BLM lands in the West Desert, watching the ground constantly hoping to find an arrowhead? If it's no different then there are tens of thousands of people who need jailtime, me included.

The fact that the feds are getting more uptight about this now is concerning. They've sent the wrong message for years that this type of casual hounding is OK and now it's not. Agreed that digging artifacts on Tribal lands is very different than finding a trash heap of discarded arrowheads and shards, but those disparate messages are now causing people pain and suffering, when it probably shouldn't.

now i know why crazy horse and others wanted their bodies buried where no one could find them and they aren' even my relatives. you play you pay!these are grown ups who know the difference and chose to defile the dead...sometimes man's law is small in comparison.

Think about how long these thieves would get if it was a "single pot" of narcotics that they were caught with... instead of a "single pot" or artifact.

There are people in jail for years for small jars of contraband. Why are these people any different than common thieves?