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Prosecution to proceed for 1997 raid on mink farm
Associated Press

WATERTOWN, S.D. - The prosecutor now faces a deadline to try a man accused of releasing hundreds of mink from a farm near Kranzburg nine years ago.

The defendant, Peter Daniel Young, 28, is serving a two-year sentence in a federal prison in California after pleading guilty in Wisconsin to animal enterprise terrorism for releasing mink at farms in Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Codington County State's Attorney Vince Foley said in December that the federal penalty did not fit the crime committed at the Turbak Mink Ranch near Kranzburg when hundreds of the animals were released from pens. Many died before they could be recaptured - a loss that played a part in the eventual closure of the business, the former owners said.

Federal investigators said they believe Young is connected with the Animal Liberation Front, a radical group that has attempted to destroy animal-related industries it considers inhumane.

Prosecutor Foley filed state charges against Young of third-degree burglary, intentional damage to property and animal enterprise trespass. The first two charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The third charge has a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

On Tuesday, Foley said Young has demanded a speedy trial or dismissal of the charges.

By filing the request for a speedy trial, Foley said Young eliminated any extradition issues and started the clock on a 180-day window for prosecution.

"That means we have to try his case within that time period," Foley said Tuesday. "We are making arrangements to have him transported here to face trial."

Foley said Young could be brought to Watertown within a month.

Young, of Mercer Island, Wash., was arrested in San Jose, Calif., a year ago when he was caught shoplifting. He had been on the run since being indicted by a federal grand jury in Wisconsin in 1998 on four extortion charges and two animal enterprise terrorism counts.

Authorities later dismissed the four extortion counts after deciding a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2003 invalidated the legal theory behind them. He then pleaded guilty to animal enterprise terrorism in a deal with prosecutors.