SALT LAKE CITY—A federal magistrate is refusing to let out of jail a man charged with threatening the government informant who helped make the biggest federal bust of artifact looting and grave-robbing across the Southwest.
Magistrate Brooke Wells on Tuesday ordered 44-year-old Charles Denton Armstrong held for a trial set for Sept. 28.
Armstrong, of Blanding, has been in custody since his arrest July 13 on a charge of retaliating against an informant. He has pleaded not guilty.
A government agent has testified Armstrong intended to hurt the undercover operative “real bad” by beating him with a baseball bat.
A federal complaint says Armstrong blamed the informant for the death of his former doctor, James Redd, who committed suicide a day after he was arrested in the bust.
