Federal prosecutors in Las Vegas have dropped a criminal case against a landowner who was accused with a friend of illegally widening the only access to his property — a dirt road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area in southern Nevada.
Robert Earl Ford's attorney said Tuesday he thinks the government didn't have evidence, but pressed the case to harass Ford because of the ways he uses the property otherwise surrounded by federal land.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden didn't respond to messages about the case.
In a court filing on the eve of trial, prosecutors said dropping charges of disturbing natural plants and working without a permit was "in the interest of justice."
Co-defendant Todd Howard Tomlin, who drove a road grader, resolved his case by promising to stay out of trouble.