Men Indicted In Pocatello Hostage Plot

A new 15-count federal indictment has been handed down against two men accused of taking eight people hostage last summer in downtown Pocatello as part of a bungled extortion plot.

Mark McGrath and Steve Atcheson, both 35, appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams on charges of robbery and extortion, using firearms in commission of a felony and transporting firearms against state lines.

Six counts of wire fraud included in an earlier indictment were dropped, but a new charge of crossing state lines to commit a violent act was added. It carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

The convicted Utah felons were charged in connection with a plot to extort money by using the victims’ bank teller machine cards.Their trial is scheduled to begin May 23 before U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge. The trial is expected to last several weeks.