The Department of Justice has dropped federal charges against a South Dakota family that was accused by the Biden administration with theft of government property because of a property dispute over a 75-year-old fence line.

The Maudes, a fifth-generation family of ranchers in the southwestern South Dakota city of Caputa, were alerted by the U.S. Forest Service that fencing on their property blocked access to the Buffalo Gap National Grassland.

They agreed to a survey of the property lines, but after the survey was completed, they were charged with theft of government property because the Biden administration asserted that their fence was put over a boundary with federal grassland. The ranchers, Charles and Heather Maude, faced 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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