Jailed founder of Idaho patriot group sought release because of coronavirus pandemic
A former Meridian property manager jailed for bilking his clients invoked the coronavirus pandemic to ask a judge to issue him a get-out-of-jail-free card.
It didn’t do him any good. Ada County District Judge Peter Barton told Brandon Curtiss, founder and former president of the patriot group 3% of Idaho, that he could remain where he is.
Curtiss, 46, was sentenced in February to a year in the Ada County Jail. A lawyer for Curtiss told Barton that contracting the virus that causes COVID-19 would pose a life-threatening risk to his client.
“Mr. Curtiss is concerned about his health,” public defender Sean Wynn said in an April 10 hearing. “He’s got high blood pressure. He also has rheumatoid arthritis.”
Early findings suggest that high blood pressure could raise an elderly person’s risk of contracting the coronavirus, and could raise the risk of severe complications from the virus for a person of any age, the American Heart Associaiton reports.
Nearly half of U.S. adults have hypertension, or high blood pressure, which is defined as consistent readings of 130/80 or above, the heart association said.
Wynn asked Barton to either commute Curtiss’ sentence or release him to home confinement and require a GPS tracking device.
“He’s concerned about the ability of the jail to properly isolate him from other inmates who may be a carrier of the virus or have the virus,” Wynn said. “We would like him to be released at least until the COVID-19 emergency clears up.”
Michael Guy, a deputy prosecutor with the Ada County Prosecutors Office, told Barton the jail has taken precautions to protect both inmates and employees.
“The safest place for him is in a controlled environment, and that controlled environment is the jail,” Guy said.
A spokesman for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office told the Statesman by email that two jail deputies and a court services employee tested positive for the coronavirus prior to April 6.
The jail has taken steps to reduce the potential risk to its staff and inmates by temporarily halting in-person visitation and by reducing the number of inmates held in the jail.
“I recognize that the sheriff has access to medical care for any inmate who needs it and also has the ability to isolate inmates, should that become necessary,” Barton said in ruling against releasing Curtiss.
Controlling the highly contagious respiratory illness in jails and prisons has become a problem across the nation. Prisoners are kept in close quarters where social distancing is difficult.
At New York City’s Rikers Island prison, more than 300 inmates and 700 staff members contracted the illness, the Miami Herald reported. At least 159 inmates at one of Miami’s three jails have tested positive for the coronavirus, the paper reported.
Curtiss stole $109,000 in tenant rent payments, deposits and fees that he failed to pass along to owners of the rental properties he managed, Guy said at the February sentencing. Wynn disputed that, saying the amount taken between 2013 and 2016 was about $49,000.
Curtiss, a former North Idaho police officer who most recently resided in Fruitland, pleaded guilty to one count of felony grand theft. In exchange, 18 other counts of grand theft were dismissed. He was charged with one count for each of the 19 victims in the case.
After he is released from jail, Curtiss will be placed on 14 years of probation. If he violates his probation, he faces a three-year fixed prison term and up to 11 additional years.
Curtiss was barred from any job that involves handling money and must inform any employer in writing of his conviction. He was fined $5,000.
A hearing to determine how much Curtiss will be ordered to pay his victims in restitution had been scheduled in late March but was postponed until May 19 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Curtiss was often photographed at 3% of Idaho gatherings — including the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge led by Emmett resident Ammon Bundy — holding rifles and other firearms. Because of the felony conviction, he loses his right to bear arms.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 1:40 PM.
