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Two southern Utah residents pleaded guilty Monday to stealing government property and illegally trafficking in American Indian artifacts. Brent Bullock and Tammy Shumway were among 26 people indicted after a long-running federal sting targeting those who illegally dig up, sell and collect Indian artifacts in the Four Corners area. Both initially pleaded not guilty to several felony charges after the case broke last summer.
Each faces a maximum of 12 years in prison. Sentencing is set for July.
Bullock, 61, sold several ancient Indian items to an undercover operative in 2007, including a blanket fragment for $2,000 and a hoe-like tool for $500, according to court documents. He also offered to sell several ceramic figurines taken from U.S. Bureau of Land Management land.
Investigators said Bullock acknowledged to the informant that the items came from public land in Utah but filled out paperwork saying they were from private land in Colorado.
Shumway, who introduced Bullock to the informant, was charged because the 40-year-old woman aided and abetted the deals and signed a falsified paper about the items' origin as a witness, federal officials said.
In U.S. District Court on Monday, Bullock and Shumway acknowledged they knew the items had been illegally dug up from public land in Utah. As part of a plea deal, they each pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in stolen artifacts and theft of government property. Prosecutors agreed to seek a reduced sentence.
The cases are among the first to be resolved following one of the nation's largest investigations into artifact looting on public and tribal lands in the Southwest.
Trials for several other defendants are scheduled for this spring and summer.
For more, see Salt Lake City Channel 13 News.
Note: "The Informant", Ted Gardner, committed suicide earlier this year. These Guilty pleas are the first since Gardner's death. Other Defendants are Fighting the Charges On the grounds that the key witness cannot be cross examined.
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