Man harvesting wood choked US Forest Service worker, then fired gun in Utah, feds say
A judge handed the maximum possible sentence to a Utah man found guilty of assaulting a U.S. Forest Service employee, saying it was “fortunate no one died” from the violent altercation, prosecutors said.
Kristopher Edward Boger, 52, of Beaver, was sentenced to 364 days in prison in connection with the assault on a USFS road engineer in May 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
A jury found Boger guilty of simple assault in December, prosecutors said, after a superseding indictment charged him with assault on an employee of the U.S. with a dangerous weapon.
His defense attorney, Scott F. Garrett, didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment March 10.
The meeting that ‘turned violent’
Boger was harvesting timber with his brother and a contractor on U.S. Forest Service land as part of a federal contract, before they were approached by a USFS engineer on May 10, 2023, according to court documents.
The engineer was checking a nearby road that Boger’s brother, Jeremiah Boger, was supposed to repair as part of a prior agreement, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
After seeing that the road wasn’t properly fixed, the engineer got in his car and drove over to Jeremiah Boger to “confront” him, the sentencing memorandum says.
The road was nearly “unusable,” prosecutors said in the release.
As the USFS engineer arrived and approached Jeremiah Boger, Kristopher Boger walked off, according to prosecutors.
Then, Jeremiah Boger and the engineer started shouting at each other, according to the sentencing memorandum.
“The meeting turned violent when Jeremiah pushed the USFS engineer,” prosecutors said.
Kristopher Boger got involved when the contractor, who was working with the Boger brothers, tried to keep Jeremiah calm, according to the sentencing memorandum.
Kristopher Boger stepped in and swung his hard hat at the USFS engineer, hitting him in his head and face, prosecutors said.
Then he began strangling the engineer, screaming at him, prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memorandum.
“I’m going to kill you…,” Kristopher Boger threatened, according to prosecutors.
The contractor stopped the assault by pulling Kristopher Boger off the engineer, prosecutors said.
Then, Kristopher Boger pulled out a handgun and fired the weapon, according to prosecutors.
The contractor and the engineer left in the engineer’s vehicle, according to prosecutors, who said they called the police.
Jeremiah Boger was charged alongside his brother in connection with the incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
At the December jury trial, Jeremiah Boger was found not guilty of assault on an employee of the U.S., according to prosecutors.
Courtney C. Koehler, who represented Jeremiah Boger, didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment March 10.
Prosecutors called Kristopher Boger’s crime “serious” and wrote in the sentencing memorandum that he “attacked a defenseless and outnumbered man.”
“(He) was there to check on a road,” prosecutors said. “And in response, he was shoved, struck, choked, and threatened with a deadly weapon.”
Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors noted that Boger has a history violence against his family members, including his niece, wife and son.
“It is clear that Boger’s tendency to solve his problems with violence is escalating,” they wrote in the sentencing memorandum.
Kristopher Boger’s prison sentence will be followed by a year of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“No one should fear for their life while doing their job to ensure road safety for travelers,” acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti said in a statement.
Beaver, where Kristopher Boger is from, is about a 200-mile drive southwest from Salt Lake City.
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