Judge dismisses case against Ammon member of Patriot Front
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Garrett Cabeza , The Spokesman-Review
AMMON (The Spokesman-Review) — Four Patriot Front members have taken plea deals in the past week after seven other members were convicted of conspiracy to riot in jury trials this summer.
Another case — involving a local member of the Patriot Front was dismissed.
Josiah Buster, of Watauga, Texas; Dylan Corio, of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Spencer Simpson, of Ellensburg; and Winston Durham, of Genesee, Idaho, pleaded guilty to failure to obtain a parade permit.
It appeared the four men were fined $456.50 and the bonds they posted after their June 2022 arrests would cover at least part of the costs, according to court documents filed on the Idaho Court Portal.
Thirty-one Patriot Front members were originally charged with conspiring to riot by disturbing the peace at Pride in the Park last year in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
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Members of the far-right, white nationalist group piled into a U-Haul truck intended for the LGBTQ+-friendly event when law enforcement officers stopped them on Northwest Boulevard just north of Coeur d’Alene City Park, where the event took place.
Kootenai County Magistrate Judge Destry Randles dismissed Richard Jessop’s case because prosecutors failed to properly disclose evidence; appear at a July court hearing; and amend Jessop’s citation for over three and a half months to let him know what he was charged with, according to an order for dismissal filed Friday by Randles.
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Randles wrote Jessop, of Ammon, could not receive a fair trial based on the “constant dribble of discovery” with the prosecution’s first response to discovery in August 2022 and its 17th supplemental response in August of this year.
“The Court concludes dismissal is the only way this Court can instill some sense of justice back into this matter,” Randles wrote. “There is no confidence the State has even yet complied with its discovery obligations. The State has engaged in bad faith in its dilatory disclosures, non-disclosures, failure to comply with Court Orders, failure to appear in Court when required, all the while insisting it has provided everything to Defense Counsel and is prepared for trial.”
Five members of Patriot Front were convicted of the conspiracy charge last month and sentenced to three days in jail, one year of probation and $1,000 in fines. A jury convicted two members almost two weeks ago. They were sentenced to two years of probation and $1,000 in fines. Yet another member was sentenced in November to two years of probation and a $500 fine after pleading guilty to disturbing the peace.
Most of the remaining defendants are set for trial between next week and early next year.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an anti-hate organization, Patriot Front is a white supremacist group whose members maintain that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it to them and no one else. Patriot Front participates in localized “flash demonstrations” across the nation.