Kootenai County case dismissed against Ammon member of Patriot Front

GARRETT CABEZA The Spokesman-Review Aug 24, 2023 Updated 1 hr ago



This booking image provided by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office shows Richard Jessop, who was arrested on June 11, 2022 in downtown Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. Authorities arrested Jessop, along with other members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an LGBTQ pride event Saturday, after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear. (Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, via AP)

Four Patriot Front members have taken plea deals in the past week, and one member’s case was dismissed, after seven other members were convicted of conspiracy to riot in jury trials this summer. ... Josiah Buster, of Watauga, Texas; Dylan Corio, of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Spencer Simpson, of Ellensburg, Wash.; and Winston Durham, of Genesee, Idaho, pleaded guilty to failure to obtain a parade permit.

It appeared the four men were fined $456.50 and the bonds they posted after their June 2022 arrests would cover at least part of the costs, according to court documents filed on the Idaho Court Portal.

Thirty-one Patriot Front members were originally charged with conspiring to riot by disturbing the peace at Pride in the Park last year in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. ... Members of the far-right, white nationalist group piled into a U-Haul truck intended for the LGBTQ+-friendly event when law enforcement officers stopped them on Northwest Boulevard just north of Coeur d’Alene City Park, where the event took place.

Kootenai County Magistrate Judge Destry Randles dismissed Richard Jessop’s case because prosecutors failed to: properly disclose evidence; appear at a July court hearing; and amend Jessop’s citation for over three and a half months to let him know what he was charged with, according to an order for dismissal filed Friday by Randles.

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This article first published in The Spokesman-Review.