One of the eight members of the self-described “People’s Grand Jury” has taken a plea deal, while five others have elected to stand trial on accusations that they threatened dozens of elected officials and judges in Colorado, including Boulder County’s district attorney, sheriff and county commissioners.
Brian Baylog, Janis Blease, Steven Byfield, David Coffelt, Bruce Doucette, Laurence Goodman, Stephen Nalty and Harlan Smith were indicted in Denver District Court on counts including violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, attempting to influence a public servant, extortion, retaliation against a judge, criminal impersonation, failure to pay taxes and offering a false instrument for recording.
Baylog, who was initially faced 24 counts, on July 12 pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, extortion and retaliation against a judge, according to court records. All three charges are felonies that carry a sentence of two to six years in prison. He will be sentenced next year, according to a spokeswoman in the Colorado Attorney General’s office.
Byfield, Nalty and Smith have all pleaded not guilty and have elected to represent themselves at a joint trial starting on Sept. 6. Doucette and Goodman also pleaded not guilty, with Doucette set for trial on Oct. 16 and Goodman set for trial Jan. 8.
Coffelt and Blease have not entered a plea and are set for an arraignment Sept. 6.
Rodger Dowdell, a member of “We the People of Colorado,” with which the defendants are associated, said recently the People’s Grand Jury group was formed earlier this decade when some realized the U.S. government is illegitimate.
“When they figured this out, they said ‘How will we get the government to the way it was founded?’ They did the deep research,” said Dowdell, who was representing Doucette, “and put an ad in the paper and asked people to come to a meeting.”
The actions the group took — including threatening officials with arrest on treason charges and filing false liens against their property — and the reasoning they followed is fairly common among far right-wing populist groups, said Frederick Clarkson, of Political Research Associates, a nonprofit research group that reports on the political right.
Extreme left-leaning groups that deny the government’s legitimacy sometimes embrace anarchy, but Clarkson said he knows of none that use tactics similar to those We the People and the People’s Grand Jury used.
The officials contacted by the defendants and named as victims in the case are from several jurisdictions across Colorado, including Boulder, Denver, Jefferson, Pueblo and Gilpin counties.
The Boulder County officials who were named as victims include Sheriff Joe Pelle, District Attorney Stan Garnett, Judge Karolyn Moore and all three county commissioners.
Some of the other reported victims include former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostler and Gilpin County Sheriff Bruce Hartman.
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