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Patriot Front members take pleas before trial

KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 9 months AGO
by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | August 23, 2023 1:05 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — After the back-to-back convictions of seven members of Patriot Front, other members of the white nationalist group appear to be accepting plea deals rather than going to trial.

Winston W. Durham, of Genesee, and Spencer T. Simpson, of Ellensburg, Wash., both entered admissions within the last week to the infraction of failure to obtain a parade permit. Simpson has also paid a $465.50 fine. Jury trials in both cases have been vacated.

The men were originally charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.

Prosecutors accused Durham, Simpson and 29 co-conspirators of planning to violently disrupt a Pride celebration in downtown Coeur d’Alene in June 2022. Police stopped and arrested the group before the U-Haul truck they were riding in arrived in City Park.

A judge ordered five Patriot Front members to spend three days in jail following their misdemeanor convictions in July, while two others who were tried separately this month received no additional jail time. All seven convicted Patriot Front members were ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, minus the $300 bail they posted after their 2022 arrests.

Court records indicate that several other Patriot Front members whose trial dates are approaching have recently paid fees in the amount of $456.50 or $156.50.

Conor J. Ryan, Dylan C. Corio, Mitchell F. Wagner and Josiah D. Buster have all paid fees.

Trials for the remaining Patriot Front members are scheduled from late August through October.

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