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	Polygamist Plea: One of Two Still Facing Trial Accepts Last-Minute Agreement By Jim Seckler Daily News April 12, 2007 http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2007/04/13/news/local/local4.txt Kingman - The case of one of two remaining Colorado City polygamists charged with having sex with underage girls ended suddenly Wednesday with a last-minute plea agreement. Dale Evans Barlow, 49, was charged with one count of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He pleaded no contest in Superior Court to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor with the sexual conduct charge being dismissed. Judge Steven Conn will sentence Barlow June 15 to supervised probation for up to three years. Conn can also designate the charge as a misdemeanor, felony or leave it as undesignated at Barlow's sentencing. If the charge is designated a felony or left as undesignated, Conn could sentence Barlow to up to one year in county jail. If it is designated a misdemeanor, Barlow could be sentenced to up to six months in jail. The charge could also be designated a felony and re-designated as a misdemeanor after Barlow completes his probation. Conn will also decide if Barlow must register as a sex offender. Since the plea agreement was reached just hours before Barlow's Wednesday morning's trial, Conn said about a dozen jurors still showed up in court despite attempts to notify them about the plea agreement and the defendant would have to pay their costs of $12 a day for each juror. Barlow's attorney, Bruce Griffen, said his office would pay the jurors' costs. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said if the case gone to trial, he had birth certificates and other evidence showing that Barlow, who was already married, impregnated a then 16-year-old girl in early 1999. The baby was born in February 2000. Barlow and seven other codefendants belong to a controversial polygamist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Colorado City. Rodney Holm's jury trial is set to begin May 15. Holm, 40, a former Colorado City police officer, is charged with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor. After numerous delays, Vergel Bryce Jessop, 47, will be sentenced April 20. He pleaded no contest Dec. 18 to child abuse. He had been charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Under his plea agreement, Conn will sentence Jessop to three years supervised probation and no additional jail time and decide whether Jessop must register as a sex offender. Charges against Randolph J. Barlow were dismissed in February when the victim refused to testify against him. Barlow, 33, was charged with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor. David Romaine Bateman, 49, was convicted in October of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He was sentenced to nine months in state prison. Kelly Fischer, 39, was convicted in July of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He was sentenced to 45 days in county jail and probation. In September, a Mohave County jury acquitted Donald Robert Barlow, 50, of one count of sexual conduct with a minor. Charges against Terry Darger Barlow, 25, were dropped in October. He was charged with one count of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. The church's leader, Warren Jeffs, 51, currently faces rape charges in Utah. He is also charged in Mohave County with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
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