Wes
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CEDAR CITY -- Four southern Utah hunting guides have pleaded guilty to leading hunters into national forests without permits. They were sentenced to probation and ordered to pay fines and restitution.
U.S. magistrate Robert Braithwaite heard pleas Monday in his St. George court from Wade Ovard, Mitch Carter, Daniel Carter and Eric Christensen.
Ovard, who operates Cleve Creek Outfitters in Santa Clara in Washington County, pleaded guilty to guiding seven clients on a deer hunt in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest 35 miles east of Ely, Nev., in 2003.
Charles Vaughn, a criminal investigator and special agent for the U.S. Forest Service who led the investigations, said Tuesday that Ovard's case was transferred to the Utah court from Reno, Nev., to accommodate distances involved for Ovard.
Vaughn said Ovard took clients on a hunt even though his application for a limited number of hunting permits on the Nevada forest was denied.
Ovard was ordered pay $10,020 in fines and $4,000 in restitution to the Nevada Department of Wildlife's game-theft program. He was also ordered to reimburse his unsuspecting clients the $5,000 they paid for the hunt. In addition, Ovard was placed on two years probation. Braithwaite suspended all but $1,000 of the fine if Ovard complies with probation requirements.
Mitch Carter and Daniel Carter, of Beaver, pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally taking two hunters from Kentucky on an elk hunt in central Utah's Fishlake National Forest in the fall of 2001, and for giving false information to a federal officer.
In a plea bargain, Braithwaite ordered each man to pay a $4,040 fine and pay $2,400 each in restitution to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' anti-poaching program.
Both Carters were placed on two years' probation, and all but $1,000 of their fines was suspended if they comply with their probation requirements.
Hunters David Hale and and Harold Knight, both from Cadiz, Ky., who were being guided by the Carters, pleaded guilty to a single count each of operating an off-highway vehicle in a closed area.
They were each ordered to pay $500 to Utah's anti-poaching program.
Eric Christensen was living in Cedar City when he illegally took a client on a 2001 deer hunt in southern Utah's Dixie National Forest while working for Parowan-based Extreme Bulls Guide Service. He was fined $100 and placed on probation.
Vaughn said Christensen was only working for Extreme Bull's owner Paul Fife when the incident occurred and was not as involved in the crime as Fife, who pleaded guilty in January 2004 to illegally guiding hunters.
Fife was fined $5,100 and ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution.
To reduce the fines is cheap compared to the regular cost of doing bussines. Some judges just don't take wildlife crimes serious.
Wes
U.S. magistrate Robert Braithwaite heard pleas Monday in his St. George court from Wade Ovard, Mitch Carter, Daniel Carter and Eric Christensen.
Ovard, who operates Cleve Creek Outfitters in Santa Clara in Washington County, pleaded guilty to guiding seven clients on a deer hunt in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest 35 miles east of Ely, Nev., in 2003.
Charles Vaughn, a criminal investigator and special agent for the U.S. Forest Service who led the investigations, said Tuesday that Ovard's case was transferred to the Utah court from Reno, Nev., to accommodate distances involved for Ovard.
Vaughn said Ovard took clients on a hunt even though his application for a limited number of hunting permits on the Nevada forest was denied.
Ovard was ordered pay $10,020 in fines and $4,000 in restitution to the Nevada Department of Wildlife's game-theft program. He was also ordered to reimburse his unsuspecting clients the $5,000 they paid for the hunt. In addition, Ovard was placed on two years probation. Braithwaite suspended all but $1,000 of the fine if Ovard complies with probation requirements.
Mitch Carter and Daniel Carter, of Beaver, pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally taking two hunters from Kentucky on an elk hunt in central Utah's Fishlake National Forest in the fall of 2001, and for giving false information to a federal officer.
In a plea bargain, Braithwaite ordered each man to pay a $4,040 fine and pay $2,400 each in restitution to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' anti-poaching program.
Both Carters were placed on two years' probation, and all but $1,000 of their fines was suspended if they comply with their probation requirements.
Hunters David Hale and and Harold Knight, both from Cadiz, Ky., who were being guided by the Carters, pleaded guilty to a single count each of operating an off-highway vehicle in a closed area.
They were each ordered to pay $500 to Utah's anti-poaching program.
Eric Christensen was living in Cedar City when he illegally took a client on a 2001 deer hunt in southern Utah's Dixie National Forest while working for Parowan-based Extreme Bulls Guide Service. He was fined $100 and placed on probation.
Vaughn said Christensen was only working for Extreme Bull's owner Paul Fife when the incident occurred and was not as involved in the crime as Fife, who pleaded guilty in January 2004 to illegally guiding hunters.
Fife was fined $5,100 and ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution.
To reduce the fines is cheap compared to the regular cost of doing bussines. Some judges just don't take wildlife crimes serious.
Wes
