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Show Three Jailed For Wayne Cattle Theft Three Emery County men convicted con-victed of cattle rustling in Wayne County have been sent to jail. Sixth District Judge Don V. Tibbs last week went against pro-i pro-i bation reports and recommendations of Wayne County Attorney Tex Olsen and sentenced Donald Ray Hatch, Allen Dewaine Olsen and Michael Payne Warwick to a year in jail, with a review in 90 days. The judge denied a defense attorney request that the men be allowed work release. He said that might be considered in 90 days. A prison sentence of up to five years was initially imposed, but suspended in lieu of the jail sentence. sen-tence. The men were arrested in September, 1987, and charged with third degree felony theft. They had cattle in their possession at the time of the arrest. However, the three men have maintained their innocence, saying the cattle were J not branded and that they believed the cattle to be wild. During sentencing proceedings last week Warwick said he had no 1 intention of committing a crime. He said he has been around cattle and ranches a lot, and had never before be-fore seen unbranded cattle on open range. "They looked wild to me," he said, adding, "I still don't think 1 I've done anything against the law." Judge Tibbs said he didn't buy that story. He said the three men have been around ranches and cattle for many years, and should have known they can't just go out and take them because they believe them to be wild. The judge criticized criti-cized a report by Adult Probation and Parole which recommended the men be placed in jail for a short period of time and then released on probation. Judge Tibbs said cattlemen cattle-men in this area are finding it more and more difficult to make a living, and then must put up with people stealing their animals. He called the probation department recommendation recommenda-tion a "mockery of the whole system." sys-tem." The probation department report was made by an official in Carbon County, which is in the judicial district where the men reside. Local AP&P officer Dwight Daniels also criticized the report, saying he did not believe the recommendation rec-ommendation to be sufficient punishment pun-ishment for crime. Prosecuting attorney Tex Olsen recommended the men be punished differently. He said Hatch was the ringleader in the operation and is a suspect in other cattle rustlings. He said this "goes much deeper than the case tried in Wayne County." Tex Olsen recommended Hatch be committed to prison for not more than five years and fined $5,000. He recommended Olsen and Warwick be sentenced to six months in jail with a review in 60 days, and that each be fined $2,500. Besides the jail sentence, Judge Tibbs also ordered each of the men to pay a fine of $6,250 and ordered each to pay restitution as determined deter-mined by the AP&P. They were also placed on probation with AP&P for 18 months after their release from jail. Wayne County Sheriff Kerry Ekker said the men would be allowed al-lowed to serve their jail sentences in Emery County, since Wayne County does not have jail facilities. |