Tim DeChristopher woke up Friday morning as just another University of Utah student. He went to bed an accused felon and the environmental movement's newest hero.

As reported by the Tribune's Patty Henetz, DeChristopher snuck his way into the Bureau of Land Management's auction of oil and gas leases on southern Utah wilderness, and drove up the bidding. He won some parcels, and drove up the price on others by hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is, of course, illegal, and DeChristopher could face jail time for it.

On a post on the environmental blog OneUtah, DeChristopher defended his actions: "When faced with the opportunity to seriously disrupt the auction of some of our most beautiful lands in Utah to oil and gas developers, I could not ethically turn my back on that opportunity. By making bids for land that was supposed to be protected for the interests of all Americans, I tried to resist the Bush administration’s attempt to defraud the American people."

So far, OneUtah is raising money for DeChristopher's legal defense. Meanwhile, his posting got DeChristopher national exposure (an interview on Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!") and a good lawyer: Former BLM director Patrick A. Shea.