Appeals Court Okays Rancher’s
Racketeering Case Against BLM

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A federal appeals court has given a small victory to a Wyoming rancher in a four year-old lawsuit accusing U.S. Bureau of Land Management employees of racketeering.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wyoming rancher Frank Robbins has standing to sue the federal government under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, RICO, and that his procedure in doing so is correct.

Earlier, U.S. District Judge Clarence A. Brimmer, the trial judge, granted the Bureau of Land Management's motion to dismiss the case, saying Robbins, as owner of the High Island Ranch, had not adequately pleaded damages nor had he exhausted other remedies, but a three-judge panel of the appeals court unanimously reversed Brimmer's decision in August and sent the case back to Brimmer's court.

On August 28, 1998, Robbins filed a claim against seven individuals in the Bureau of Land Management, as individuals and as employees of BLM, accusing them of violating RICO.

The previous owner of the ranch that Robbins bought in 1994 had given the BLM an easement across some private property. BLM had failed to record the easement, however, and when Robbins bought the ranch, he knew nothing about it.

Robbins, who runs a guest ranch along with his cattle operation, denied BLM officials an easement when they later approached him.

The rancher accuses the BLM employees of various forms of extortion in an attempt to force him to re-grant the easement the BLM had lost.

Robbins says BLM employees began trespassing, threatened to take his recreational use permit and ultimately conspired to charge him with criminal interference with an officer of the BLM in pursuit of his authorized duty.

The BLM filed criminal charges against Robbins, claiming that because he would not let BLM employees go across his property, he interfered with them and their official duties. Robbins says they knew the criminal charges were without merit.

A jury took less than 20 minutes after a three-day trial to return a verdict of not guilty.

The RICO suit was filed after BLM told Robbins that if he gave them an easement, his problems would go away.

To successfully state a RICO claim, the three-judge panel said, a plaintiff must allege conduct of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity.

The appeals court said Robbins met this criteria. The RICO Act also says a plaintiff must show that his business or property has been injured by the conduct of the defendants, and the court said that although Robbins did not allege any tangible harm, he does meet the requirements at this stage of the case.

If Robbins wins, the RICO Act could become part of Western property law, and it might be extended to cover environmental activist groups.

Most often used by federal prosecutors battling organized crime, the RICO Act applies when two or more persons conspire to an illegal act.

Legal authorities say the RICO statute applies to more than just federal agencies. It could apply to other groups as well. If Robbins' case holds, it could mean that the RICO statute might be applied to federal agencies working with environmental activist groups to the detriment of ranchers.