Environmental activist Timothy DeChristopher, who garnered national attention for falsely bidding on oil-drilling leases during the Bush administration, has been released from prison.

Jailed for two years for bidding at a December 19, 2008, Bureau of Land Management auction without any intent to pay, DeChristopher will spend the remaining six months of his term at halfway house in Salt Lake City.

While in prison, DeChristopher appealed his conviction to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, but lost his case.

The activist bid $1.8 million for more than a dozen parcels of land that he argued should remain untouched by oil and gas interests in order to preserve their scenic beauty and help slow down global warming.

At the time of his sentencing, DeChristopher said, “My intent both at the time of the auction and now was to expose, embarrass and hold accountable the oil and gas industry, to point that it cut into their $100-billion profits.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Timothy DeChristopher to Finish Sentence in Salt Lake City Halfway House (by Amy Joi O’Donoghue, Deseret News)

Two Years in Prison for Bidding at Oil Lease Auction (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)