This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Monticello man ensnared in the 2009 Four Corners artifacts-trafficking raids has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Rulon Kody Sommerville, originally charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor for taking ancient American-Indian knives from public lands and offering to sell them to an undercover operative, agreed to a guilty plea on the misdemeanor count, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba accepted the plea Friday in Moab.
The other charges will be dropped at sentencing.
Sommerville was among two dozen people, many from San Juan County, charged after a federal sting operation using a former artifacts dealer as an operative. Most have pleaded guilty and received probation. The operative and two of those indicted committed suicide.
Sommerville will be sentenced Sept. 16. The maximum sentence is a year in prison.
Brandon Loomis