Office of the United States Attorney, Dennis K.

Burke
District of Arizona

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 08, 2011
Public Affairs
ROBBIE SHERWOOD
Telephone: (602) 514-7573
Cell: (602) 740-2422
ROBERT.SHERWOOD@USDOJ.GOV
WWW.JUSTICE.GOV/USAO/AZ

ARIZONA MAN SENTENCED FOR OFF-ROAD DAMAGE

AT VERMILION CLIFFS NATIONAL MONUMENT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark E. Aspey recently sentenced a

Fredonia man to three years probation and $7,500 in restitution for damaging the Vermilion Cliffs
National Monument with his off-road vehicle. Melvin Mognett, 67, of Fredonia pleaded guilty to
Off Road Travel with Resource Damage on March 29 in federal district court in Flagstaff. Judge
Aspey also forbade Mognett from recreation on Bureau of Land Management public lands during
his probation.

“Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is a national treasure, and inappropriate use of

off-road vehicles can cause irreparable damage,” said U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke. “This office
will diligently investigate and prosecute these crimes to protect Arizona’s public lands.”

On May 29, 2010, a BLM law enforcement ranger patrolling in Vermilion Cliffs – near
Lake Powell and the Utah border -- found ATV tracks which went off road for nearly three miles.
When the ranger located the defendant and his ATV, the investigation matched Mognett’s tires and
shoe pattern to the off-road vehicle tracks and shoe prints found on patrol. The defendant admitted
that he knew that off road travel was prohibited but admitted that he had driven his ATV off road
to look more closely at geologic and archeological sites of interest.

This remote, unspoiled 294,000-acre national monument includes the Paria Plateau, Coyote
Buttes and Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness areas and contains many outstanding natural
resources like towering cliffs, deep canyons, and spectacular sandstone formations.

A conviction for Off Road Travel with Resource Damage carries a maximum penalty of
a year in jail, a $100,000 fine, or both.

The investigation in this case was conducted by Law Enforcement Officers of the
Bureau of Land Management. The prosecution was handled by Camille D. Bibles, Assistant U.S.
Attorney, District of Arizona, Flagstaff.

CASE NUMBER: CR-11-08015-001-PCT-MEA

RELEASE NUMBER: 2011-059 (Mognett)

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
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