For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Bob Cooper
(208) 334-4112

Date: February 5, 2007

Kimball Mason Pleads Guilty to Six More Felonies

(Boise) – Kimball W. Mason today entered pleas of guilty to six felony charges during a hearing before Senior District Judge William H. Woodland in Seventh District Court in Idaho Falls. Mason faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison on each of the six counts. Judge Woodland set a sentencing hearing for March 5, 2007.

On September 6, 2006, the Attorney General filed a criminal complaint charging Mason with seven counts of grand theft by possession of stolen property and six counts of forgery or, alternatively, falsifying a public record.

In today’s hearing, Mason entered pleas of guilty to two counts of grand theft by possession of stolen property and four counts of forgery.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, the Attorney General moved to dismiss the remaining seven counts. The plea agreement does not include an agreement with regard to sentencing. However, it does preclude Mason from seeking a withheld judgment. The Attorney General agreed that he will not file additional charges against Mason as a result of his investigations.

By pleading guilty, Mason admitted to the allegations in six counts of the Information filed with the court. Those allegations are as follows:

  • Count 1 alleges that, on or about May 5, 2006, Mason knowingly possessed a stolen Berretta .22 caliber model 21 semi-automatic pistol that was the property of the City of Idaho Falls.
  • Count 2 alleges that, on or about May 5, 2006, Mason knowingly possessed a stolen Jennings .22 caliber model J-22 semi-automatic pistol that was the property of the City of Idaho Falls.
  • Count 8 alleges that, on or about May 25, 2004, Mason falsified a record of a judgment of a court by using Magistrate Judge L. Mark Riddoch’s signature stamp, without the judge’s authority or approval, on a court order purporting to forfeit a firearm to the Idaho Falls City Prosecutor’s Office.
  • Count 9 alleges that, on or about October 3, 2002, Mason falsified a record of a judgment of a court by using Judge Riddoch’s signature stamp, without the judge’s authority or approval, on a court order purporting to forfeit a firearm to the Idaho Falls City Prosecutor’s Office.
  • Count 10 alleges that, on or about September 4, 2003, Mason falsified a record of a judgment of a court by using Magistrate Judge Keith M. Walker’s signature stamp on a pretrial status order purporting to forfeit a Phoenix Arms .25 caliber firearm to the Idaho Falls City Prosecutor’s Office and delivering the order to the evidence custodian of the Idaho Falls Police Department and that Mason used the signature stamp without the judge’s authority or approval.
  • Count 11 alleges that, on or about August 29, 2002, Mason falsified a record of a judgment of a court by using Judge Walker’s signature stamp on a court order purporting to forfeit a Winchester .12 gauge shotgun to the Idaho Falls City Prosecutor’s Office and that Mason used the signature stamp without the judge’s authority or approval.

BACKGROUND

On April 19, 2006, Mason entered a plea of guilty to two felony counts of grand theft and one felony charge of falsifying a public record. The charges related to Mason’s unlawfully taking possession of firearms from the Idaho Falls Police Department evidence custodian and to Mason falsifying a court order authorizing the release of a firearm to himself.

Mason also admitted in court that he had stolen 16 other weapons from the Idaho Falls Police Department. He also agreed to truthfully disclose the disposition of other weapons that had been turned over to his possession and that could not be accounted for in the investigation. Mason told the Attorney General’s investigator that all of those guns had been destroyed.

On May 30, 2006, Judge Woodland sentenced Mason to three concurrent one to five year prison sentences.

On the day following Mason’s sentencing, Idaho Falls police received a tip that Mason’s family had been seen removing weapons from the residence of Idaho Falls attorney John Stosich. Subsequently, the Attorney General obtained a search warrant for Mason’s home. During that search, 12 guns, which had been taken from the Idaho Falls Police evidence room, were recovered. Four of the guns that Mason told the Attorney General’s investigator he had destroyed were among the items recovered.

The discovery of these weapons and additional investigation led the Attorney General to file the 13 new charges on September 6, 2006. The first seven of those charges alleged that Mason was in possession of four of the missing guns from the initial investigation and three other guns taken from Idaho Falls Police Department evidence. The remaining six charges in the September 6, 2006, complaint alleged that Mason used two judges’ signature stamps on orders forfeiting firearms to the Idaho Falls City Prosecutor’s Office. The complaint alleged that Mason used the signature stamps without the authority or approval of the judges.

The Attorney General’s Criminal Law Division is serving as special prosecutor in the Mason cases at the request of Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney Dane Watkins, Jr.

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