Utah man charged for stealing over $10K of dirt

UINTAH COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — A Utah man is facing charges for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of dirt from someone else’s property and selling it.

Jeremy Merrell, 49, was charged with one count of theft with a value of over $5,000, which is a second-degree felony. Merrell is accused of stealing the dirt over the course of several weeks between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31, 2024, according to court documents.

“[Merrell] used heavy excavating equipment, and under the guise of performing some property repairs/improvements for the victim, did without permission or authority from the victim, removed approximately 33 dump truck loads of dirt/earth from the victim’s property,” according to officials.

According to documents, Merrell removed about 435 cubic yards of dirt from a hillside on the victim’s property. Documents also allege that Merrell sold the dirt that was removed from the victim’s property to other people to use “to grade their driveways.”

“The dirt has a value of $6600 with a total project cost of $10,800 to include refinishing the hillside where the dirt was removed from,” documents read.

Charging documents did not provide additional information about where the dirt was reportedly taken from or how many people Merrell allegedly sold the stolen dirt to.

The Uintah County Attorney’s Office received information about the case from officials with the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, and the charging document was filed on April 1, 2025.

Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.