Charged With Bigamy, Father of Nine Instead Pleads No Contest to Adultery
Salt Lake Tribune 16Jun99 L7
By Thomas Burr: Special to the Tribune

RICHFIELD, UTAH -- With the completion of the recent abuse and incest cases involving the Kingston clan of fundamentalist Mormons, prosecutors and activists in Utah have wondered what will happen to polygamy prosecution. Now, a fundamentalist Mormon has pleaded no contest to adultery in order to avoid significant jail time.

Mark Easterday plead no contest on Tuesday to adultery in Utah's 6th District Court in Richfield. The 38-year-old Easterday entered the plea after prosecutors showed a video-taped deposition from Easterday's divorce proceedings in which he admits marrying a second woman. Judge David Mower sentenced Easterday to 6 months in jail and a $500 fine. The original Bigamy charge carried a sentence of up to 5 years in jail.

A central issue in the case was the admissibility of the videotaped deposition. When Judge Mower allowed the videotape and it was shown, Easterday changed his plea saying, "My back is against the wall."

Easterday was excommunicated from the LDS Church several years ago.