Federal grand jury indicts Sackett
SANDPOINT — A federal grand jury in North Dakota indicted a Priest Lake businessman Wednesday on a charge of attempted sex trafficking of a child, according to U.S. District Court documents.
The indictment alleges Michael Thomas Sackett attempted to recruit a 12-year-old girl into committing a commercial sex act on Oct. 12.
Sackett and two other men were arrested last month on charges of attempting to entice an underage girl into committing a commercial sex act, but the cases were dismissed and prosecution began anew on slightly modified charges, federal court records show.
Probable cause affidavits in both sets of cases were filed under seal to avoid compromising an ongoing criminal investigation or jeopardizing the safety of undercover Homeland Security agents.
The charging language and U.S. Code citations in the indictment and the dismissed criminal complaint are substantially similar. The indictment adds another federal code citation and amends the date of the alleged to offense from Oct. 13 to Oct. 12.
Federal court records in either of Sackett’s cases do not indicate why the criminal complaint was dismissed or why prosecutors sought an indictment instead.
U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon declined to comment specifically on the allegations against the defendants, but told The Associated Press Thursday that his office views “allegations of even the attempted sex trafficking of children” as serious crimes.
Authorities in North Dakota and Montana recently unveiled Operation Safe Bakken, which is meant to curb crime in the booming oil patch country of the Northern Plains, The Billings Gazette reported.
The effort is aimed at drug trafficking, although The Bismarck Tribute reports that it also targets human trafficking, illegal firearms and prostitution. The paper reported that many of the human trafficking cases involve people who are brought to North Dakota from other states.
“We are committed to working with our federal, state and tribal law enforcement partners to do everything we can to make sure that the increasing organized criminal activity in North Dakota’s oil patch does not include an increase in the sex trafficking of children,” Purdon reportedly told the AP on Thursday.
Montana residents Jordan Christiansen and Daniel Ray were arrested along with Sackett.
Court documents in Sackett’s case indicate federal prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of two iPhone handsets and $160, items which were either involved in facilitating the alleged offense or were proceeds from the crime.
Sackett, 47, is free on his own recognizance while the case is pending, according to court documents. Pretrial release conditions require Sackett to remain at a residence he keeps in Williston, N.D., although he is allowed limited in-state travel with electronic monitoring.
Sackett’s defense counsel, Jacob Rodenbiker, has declined to comment on the case.
Sackett made national headlines in a suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2008 over a disputed wetland. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that Sackett had a right to challenge an EPA compliance order and the case is pending in Idaho’s federal court.