A southern Utah county commissioner who became a cause celebre in the movement challenging the federal government's management of Western public lands is set to find out Friday if he'll get jail time for organizing an ATV protest ride through a closed canyon.
Federal prosecutors want San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman to serve up to a year behind bars on his conviction on federal misdemeanors. They argue he used his office to encourage people to break the law in the ride designed to protest what organizers called federal overreach in the closure of the canyon.
Attorneys for Lyman are asking a judge to sentence him to probation and community service rather than prison time. Lyman recognized recently in court documents that he made a mistake and wouldn't do it again.