Nicholas Hans Byrd, a 19-year-old who kidnapped a son of Utah industrialist Jon Huntsman and stabbed an FBI agent during the son's rescue, was ordered Tuesday to serve at least five years in prison.
Byrd, who pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault, apologized to the victims and their families and told 3rd District Judge Homer Wilkinson he was willing to pay the consequences for his crimes."I ask myself every day why and how I could have done such a horrible thing as I did," he said.
The judge sentenced Byrd to 5-years-to-life for the kidnapping charge and 0-to-5-years for the aggravated assault charge and ordered them to run consecutively, despite prosecutors' willingness to have them run concurrently. Because of a minimum-mandatory law, Byrd must serve five years before he can be considered for parole.
Wilkinson told Byrd he must first think of the victims when he imposes sentences. "We don't know what would have happened if you had not been apprehended when you were," he said. "You're lucky you're not here on a homicide charge."
Defense attorney Walter F. Bugden Jr. said his client was being punished unfairly simply because of the local prominence of the victims - the Huntsman family.
"Nick was treated more harshly than any other criminal defendant because of who the victims are," he said. "If it were not for (the Huntsmans') status in the community . . . probation would have truly been possible in this case. Instead, he's going to jail."
Bugden said the case sends a dangerous message about the fairness of the system. "Depending on who your victims are, you will receive a different brand of justice."
Byrd was charged with kidnapping fellow Highland High student James Huntsman, then 16, in December 1987.
Police said the boy was bound, handcuffed, blindfolded and placed in a vehicle in front of his house. A short time later, a Huntsman child received a phone call saying the boy had been kidnapped and that his parents should fly home immediately. The couple quickly returned from a company Christmas party in Ohio.
Accompanied by FBI agents, Jon Huntsman received another phone call a few hours later and was ordered to pay a ransom of $1 million. Less than an hour later, the abductor phoned again and allowed the kidnap victim to speak with his father. That call was traced to a grocery store pay phone, where FBI agents quickly converged.
Tuesday, Byrd said he noticed agent Grant Allen Jacobsen about 15 feet away from him while he was talking to Jon Huntsman on the telephone. He said he didn't think twice about the man until he ran up to him, grabbed him and swung him around.
"Without thinking fully, I was full of adrenalin and frightened, I just reacted, not knowing who he was . . . I'm glad he did not die," Byrd said.
Bugden said FBI agents falsely characterized Byrd as being unfeeling and cocky following the incident and circulated a false quote among themselves that Byrd had said he stabbed Jacobsen "a good one."
"I guess they wanted to paint Nick Byrd, a 17-year-old kid, as a modern-day Dillinger," he said. "In the reports, they all omit Nick crying, showing remorse or being concerned about the well-being of Mr. Jacobsen."
Bugden gave the judge a letter from Salt Lake Police Detective Jerry Mendez that described Byrd as very remorseful and scared following the ordeal.
Byrd is the "kid next door," but was extremely depressed, and he fixated on kidnapping the victim as a way of dealing with it, Bugden said. He said doctors believe the kidnapping resembled a suicide attempt.
Salt Lake County Attorney David Yocom said the crime was a "carefully planned criminal act and not just the whim of a young boy."
"I think you need to send a message and that is this community won't tolerate this type of crime," he told the judge.
Wilkinson said he would recommend that the Board of Pardons release Byrd at the earliest possible date following the five-year sentence.