“Politically motivated” criminal charges have been dropped against a South Dakota ranching family whose lives were turned upside-down after the Biden administration prosecuted them over a 25-acre land dispute last year, federal officials said.
Charges against Charles and Heather Maude, who own the 400-acre Maude Hog and Cattle, were dropped Tuesday night by President Donald Trump’s Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins held a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning with the Maudes, officially announcing the end of the ordeal.
“Thanks to the leadership and the unequivocal and bold leadership of President Trump and his directive to put Americans first, we have the pleasure to announce that the criminal prosecution of the Maudes is now over,” Rollins said during the news conference. “They will not be driven from their home. They will not be jailed. They will not be fined. And their children will grow up with the mother and the father they love and who love them.”
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The Maudes were charged with theft of federal property last year when the Biden administration’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS) said they were using federal grasslands adjacent to their property for grazing without permission, according to Tri-State Livestock News.
The couple, who are both fifth-generation South Dakotan ranchers, reportedly held a USFS National Grasslands grazing allotment in good standing since USFS’ inception, which was well after the Maude family purchased the farm in 1910.
When Biden’s USDA notified them that fencing on their property blocked access to the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, they agreed in good faith to a survey of the property lines, the USDA said.
Instead of settling the issue over the small patch of land, the Biden administration brought criminal charges against the family, claiming that they “did knowingly steal, purloin and convert to their own use National Grasslands managed by the United States Department of Agriculture, a department and agency of the United States, namely, approximately, 25 acres of National Grasslands for cultivation and approximately 25 acres of National Grasslands for grazing cattle, having a value in excess of $1,000 and did aid and abet each other, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 and 2.”
Charles and Heather Maude each faced up to 10 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
Rollins invited Heather Maude to the podium to speak on behalf of her family on Wednesday.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Trump administration and all of these great players that have done so much so quickly relative to what we were facing before to get us where we are today,” Maude said.
Maude, who also descends from five generations of farmers, spoke briefly about their families’ histories of fighting for freedom.
“We are both fifth-generation farmers and ranchers. Our families have a combined 250-plus years of production agriculture,” she said. “We paused briefly in that pursuit in our grandfathers’ generation, when both of my grandfathers fought in World War II. Charles’s great-grandmother is a four-star war mom, meaning that four of her sons went to war and all four went home.”
“But before and after fighting for the freedoms of this nation, we have pursued our primary passion that led Charles and I to meet each other, which is our production, agriculture,” she said.
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After thanking a host of local officials, activists and local media organizations who told their story, Maude became emotional.
“I want to thank my mom and dad, and thank Charlie’s parents, too, [and] our neighbors who stood up for us at the threat of retribution to their own operations that they still face until we get this completely resolved,” she said. “And we are so thankful for the efforts that are being rolled out today to help make progress in the right direction and everyone else to who wrote, contributed financially, and who prayed for us. May God bless you, and God bless America and God bless American agriculture.”
Rollins offered a message of support to all ranchers and farmers who faced government persecution under the last administration.
“For all American farmers, ranchers, and producers who are subject to the similar egregious lawfare from the Biden administration, we will work with our counterparts, including my great colleague Kristi Noem, and others across the Trump government, to address any other government overreach in situations like this. We must ensure that our farmers and ranchers have not and will not be targeted for living the American way of life.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke out about the case in a Monday news release.
“The prior administration’s misguided agenda must be reversed in order to make America safe again,” she said. “This Department of Justice will spend our resources and efforts on prosecuting criminals, getting drugs off the streets, and identifying and dismantling the weaponization.”
A Biden spokesperson did not return a request for comment.