A South Dakota ranch couple is fighting federal indictments served to them by a U.S. Forest Service agent who allegedly showed up unannounced on their front steps — armed and in tactical gear. The agent was there to serve them with indictments in a modern-day range war between the ranchers and feds.
“It’s is stressful, financially and mentally. It’s something nobody should have to go through,” rancher Charles Maude of Caputa, South Dakota, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
He and his wife Heather, who is a Wyoming native, were served with separate federal grand jury indictments June 24, for alleged theft of government property. The government claims the fence put up by the ranchers is over a boundary with federal grasslands.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
The indictments were served by Forest Service Special Agent Travis Lunders. According to reports, Lunders showed up unannounced at the Maudes’ home armed and in tactical gear to serve the indictments.
The incident has sparked nationwide outrage, Rachel Gabel, assistant editor of the Fence Post, a national agricultural newspaper, told Cowboy State Daily.
“I think there will be accountability. There are a number of members of Congress who are anxious to get him (Lunders) in front of their committees,” said Gabel, who knows the Maudes and has been covering their story.
