Man arraigned on racist fraud allegation

A man already facing up to 10 years in prison for a gun conviction pleaded not guilty today to identity theft charges that prosecutors say were part of a white supremacist-related terrorist plot.

Wayde Lynn Kurt, 53, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of aggravated identity theft, two counts of unlawful production of an identification card, two counts of unlawful possession of an identification card and one count of making a false statement. The last charge is related to Kurt allegedly using a fake identity to obtain a Post Office box.

He was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno in Spokane and is in custody at the Spokane County Jail without bail.

Kurt was arrested in August 2010 for being a felon in possession of a firearm for  five firearms he possessed while target shooting with a white supremacist, David Johnathan Udseth, who was secretly recording him for the FBI. A jury convicted Kurt last month. He denies being a racist and old jurors he spoke of a racist plan with Udseth only to infiltrate the group because its members had assaulted a friend, and he wanted to monitor them.

Prosecutors say Kurt said he was producing fraudulent identification cards for a “task” for which he had been preparing for years.

Kurt said “he would need 30 days to establish a new identity, noting the name ‘Wayde Kurt would only a bring a bad reputation to a publicly exposed political movement,’” according to court documents.