Some good news today!:) The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that both Shaun Walker and Travis Massey were over-sentenced in the wake of their 2007 convictions. The third defendant, Eric Egbert, is unaffected by the ruling. Link below:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705297482/White-separatist-group-members-to-be-resentenced.html

White separatist group members to be resentenced

By Linda Thomson

Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 8:06 p.m. MDT

Two men convicted and sentenced two years ago for conspiring to frighten non-white people from Salt Lake City streets should be resentenced, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday in Denver.

Shaun A. Walker and Travis D. Massey were indicted and later convicted of conspiring to interfere with civil rights, and aiding and abetting the interference with a federally protected activity. Walker was sentenced to 87 months in prison, and Massey was put behind bars for 57 months.

A third man, Eric G. Egbert, was convicted of the same crimes and was sentenced to 42 months in prison. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling does not affect his situation.

Court records state that the three men beat up a Mexican-American man in 2002, and Massey and another man assaulted a Native American man in 2003.

The appeals court said Walker, Massey and Egbert were members of the National Alliance white separatist organization.

The appeals court upheld many aspects of the U.S. District Court's sentencings of Walker and Massey, which the two men had challenged. However, the appeals court did find certain flaws that it said merited resentencing for the pair.

One was a U.S. District Court's finding that one victim suffered "serious bodily injury." The appeals court said there was no evidence of serious bodily injury, not enough eyewitness evidence to show the man who was beaten would have needed medical care, and he could not be found after the attack. [Ed. Note: The so-called "victim" was Jaime Ballesteros, and he was so "badly injured" that he went skiing the next day.]

In addition, Walker challenged an "enhancement" of his sentencing because he had been characterized as a "leader or organizer" of the group.

"From the record, it does not appear that Mr. Walker exercised any more authority than any other member of the group," the appeals court wrote. "The mere fact of Mr. Walker's leadership position in the (National Alliance) does not indicate he held a leadership position with respect to the criminal enterprise."

Bad month for the Feds. First, they blew the Ted Stevens trial, and the prosecutor in that one may end up sitting in the docket herself. Now, it looks like they overshot their wad on this case as well. This paints a portrait of a Department of Justice completely out of control.

According to the official 25-page opinion written by the court, the case will be sent back to the original district court for re-sentencing.

Not once in the article did the Deseret News use the phrase "white supremacist". Maybe they're learning.