Federal prosecutors had pledged to seek harsh sentences against the men convicted of lying to a grand jury that convened to investigate Kiplyn Davis’s disappearance, and on Friday they got their wish as the third of three suspects in the 15-year-old’s murder was sentenced for perjury.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell sentenced Christopher Neal Jeppson to five years in federal prison on one count of perjury and three counts of making false statements. After the sentencing, Jeppson was taken into custody by federal marshals.

Jeppson was convicted in September of lying to FBI agents and a federal grand jury that were investigating Davis’s disappearance and probable murder. Campbell recently denied a motion for a new trial in the case.

As she did last month with David Rucker Leifson, Campbell ruled that Jeppson’s sentence should be enhanced because his perjury obstructed the Davis investigation. The most troubling aspect of the case, she said, is that Jeppson lied about his whereabouts on the day Davis disappeared 13 years ago.

“Where were you on the night Ms. Davis disappeared? I can’t think of anything that is more basic to an investigation,” Campbell said.

Davis vanished from Spanish Fork High School on May 2, 1995, and her body hasn’t been found. Jeppson and co-defendant Timmy Brent Olsen are charged in state court with her murder.

Jeppson, one of the last people known to have seen Davis, told the grand jury and numerous investigators that on the day she went missing he spent most of the day in the high school auditorium hanging lights for an upcoming concert, and that Olsen and Leifson spent several hours there with him. Jeppson said he did not see anyone else in the auditorium that day, but at his trial, testimony showed that there was a community choir concert in the auditorium that night.

Jeppson was also convicted of lying when he told the grand jury that he never told anyone that he was involved in Davis’s disappearance. His ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend testified at his trial that he told them he was involved in her death or helped bury her body, statements that Jeppson later said were bad jokes.

FBI Agent Mike Anderson, the lead investigator in the Davis case, testified that a truthful answer from Jeppson about where he was that day could have been the key to the case.

“It would solve the case,” Anderson said. “It certainly would’ve given me a lot more information.”

Scott Williams, Jeppson’s attorney, argued that the grand jury initially convened to investigate a disappearance, and only later did the focus shift to kidnapping and murder. Williams grilled Anderson on when the case was officially deemed a murder investigation, and whether that occurred before Jeppson testified before the grand jury.

Campbell, however, said the official designation was a moot point.

“It’s been more than a decade and she’s still not back. I think common sense would tell anyone that this is a murder investigation,” she said.

Williams asked for leniency for Jeppson on several grounds, including his status as a caring father and husband. Many friends and loved ones wrote letters to Campbell, telling her about the many positive things they felt Jeppson has done with his life. Williams said he thought Campbell gave consideration to those things.

“The overall length of the sentence was disappointing, given our position, but I don’t think that it was given without taking that into account,” he said.

Richard Davis, Kiplyn’s father, was pleased to see one of the men he considers responsible for his daughter’s death go to federal prison, but felt the sentence should have been longer.

“They talk about the things that he’s been doing in the last few years, well guess what? I missed her graduation. I missed her graduating from college. … I missed her getting married. I missed her having my grandchildren,” he said. “I missed … all the wonderful things that you have as a family. What about us and the justice that I’ve missed? And all they had to do was tell the truth.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlos Esqueda was also pleased with the outcome of the case.

“Our ultimate goal has always been to assist in the recovery of Kiplyn Davis, and we remain unsatisfied in that regard. However, this is a great accomplishment,” the prosecutor said. “We have three people in federal prison, and there are two more to be sentenced. Plus, it resulted in murder charges being filed against Chris Jeppson and Tim Olsen.”

Two other defendants, Scott Brunson and Garry Von Blackmore, have yet to be sentenced. Brunson pleaded guilty to fabricating a false alibi for Olsen before the grand jury, while Blackmore pleaded guilty to lying when he said he had never heard Olsen claim responsibility for Davis’s death. Both testified against Olsen at his perjury trial and prosecutors plan to have them testify at the murder trial as well.

Jeppson’s harsh sentence should have come as no surprise. Olsen was sentenced to 12 and a half years after being convicted of 15 counts of perjury, and Leifson was sentenced to four years after pleading guilty to one count.

Williams said he would likely appeal the sentence to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Olsen lost two appeals of his sentence, while Leifson recently appealed his.

A status conference in the murder case is scheduled for July 8.

• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.