Angler Loses Fishing Privileges for Using Illegal Bait on East Newton

3/2/2014

CODY - On Feb. 17 in Park County Circuit Court, Daniel Cunningham, 26, of Powell pleaded guilty to fishing with illegal bait and using more than the number of poles allowed at East Newton Lake. Cunningham was fined $240 and will lose his fishing privileges for the next two years.

North Cody Game Warden Travis Crane observed Cunningham on East Newton Lake illegally using bait on January 18. “In addition to his three other poles, Cunningham was using fishing line attached to an empty Gatorade bottle with a treble hook and PowerBait. He placed the Gatorade bottle in an ice fishing hole several yards from his fishing location in an attempt to conceal his additional lines and illegal bait. Cunningham caught a large trout with the illegal fishing rig,” Crane said.

Cunningham was also cited recently by Powell Game Warden Chris Queen for illegally snagging trout and taking an over limit of trout.

“This certainly made things more serious for Cunningham’s violations,” Crane said. “Judge Bruce Waters and the Park County Attorney’s Office handed down an appropriate sentence when they suspended Cunningham’s fishing privileges.”

“There are a large number of legal anglers who enjoy fishing at East Newton Lake because of the exceptional trout fishery there. These sportsmen should be appalled by the fact that Mr. Cunningham took advantage of their fishery,” Crane said.

East Newton Lake, located northwest of Cody, is a popular fishery managed for trophy-sized trout. Special regulations including the use of artificial flies and lures only, are required on this water to sustain the quality of the trophy fishery. Rainbow trout in East Newton Lake are the wild brood source for Eagle Lake rainbow trout in Wyoming. Eggs taken from this water are used to stock rainbow trout across Wyoming.

Riverton Man Pleads Guilty to Deer Poaching

2/24/2014

LANDER - On December 20, 2013, a Riverton man pled guilty in the Ninth District Circuit Court inRiverton to poaching a buck mule deer in a closed season. The incident occurred on June 28, 2013, near the Honor Farm, east of Riverton.

Jarrod Maloff, 19, of Riverton originally entered a not guilty plea and was scheduled for a jury trial in mid-December. A few days before the trial, Maloff and his attorney reached a plea deal with Deputy County Attorney Oakley. In a change of plea hearing, Judge Roberts sentenced Maloff to $1,000 in fines suspended, $3,000 in restitution, one year of hunting privileges suspended, six months unsupervised probation, and Maloff cannot possess firearms or ammunition or be around anyone that does for six months. In addition, Maloff spent several days in the Fremont County jail after an arrest warrant was served for the illegal take of the deer.

South Riverton game warden Brad Gibb, who was the lead officer in the case, and wildlife investigator Scott Browning, who assisted Gibb during the investigation, both attended the Change of Plea hearing for Maloff and assisted the Prosecutor in the sentencing phase of the case. Browning recounts that “Judge Roberts was adamant that this is not the way things are done in Wyoming and he was not pleased that Maloff had killed the four point buck out of season. Mr. Maloff assured the judge that he was not brought up this way, it was a dumb mistake, and would not happen again.”

There were two other Riverton males involved in the case, Jacob Eaton, 19, and Joshua “Josh” Marsh, 20. They pled guilty to charges for their “accessory” role in the crime and have been previously sentenced. Fines for the two total over $1,800 for the deer, and Eaton’s hunting privileges are revoked for one year in Wyoming and 39 reciprocal states.

Like several investigations, this investigation started with an anonymous tip from the public. Poaching reports may be made to the "STOP POACHING" Hotline: 1-877-WGFD-TIP (1-877-943-3847) or 1-307-777-4330 for out-of-state "STOP POACHING" calls only. Violations may also be reported at regional offices or on-line at: wgfd.wyo.gov.

Men Convicted for Trapping Violations

2/18/2014

JACKSON - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department reports the successful conviction of two Alpine men for multiple trapping violations.

Harold Buckner recently pled guilty to trapping while his trapping privileges were suspended. Buckner’s trapping privileges had been suspended in July of 2013 for multiple trapping violations. Richard Permann pleaded guilty to being an accessory to Buckner’s offense as well as failing to check his traps and for trapping too close to a public road.

Buckner was sentenced to serve five days in jail and his trapping privileges were revoked for six and a half years. He also received a $500 fine and is required to serve a one-year probation sentence. The probation terms require that he violate no laws and abide by his suspension. If Buckner were to violate the terms of his probation, he would have to serve the remaining 360 days jail that were suspended in favor of probation.

Permann was sentenced to pay a combined $1,500 in fines for his three violations, as well as a three year probation term with his trapping privileges also being revoked for those three years. In addition, Permann must pay a $365 veterinary bill that was the result of a domestic dog being caught in one of his traps that was too close to a public road. Similar to Buckner, if Permann were to violate his probation, he would be required to serve the remaining probationary period in jail, which could be up to three years.

“Clearly, these two individuals did not take the Wyoming trapping laws, or their trapping responsibilities,seriously,” said Wyoming Game and Fish warden, Robert Hipp. “It was especially evident with Buckner who had already lost his trapping privileges back in July.”

Buckner had lost his trapping privileges for a year after being convicted for multiple violations, including failing to check his traps, using game animal parts as bait and having traps too close to an exposed bait or carcass.

“We would especially like to commend the Teton County Prosecutors Office and Teton County Circuit Court Judge, James L. Radda, for their continued commitment to enforcing our wildlife laws in Teton County,” Hipp said.

Grizzly Bear Shooting Results in Conviction

2/3/2014

JACKSON - After a lengthy investigation and a two day jury trial, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department reports the successful conviction of an Etna man for the illegal shooting of a grizzly bear near Moran in the fall of 2012. Joe B. Conger shot and killed the grizzly bear on Sept. 30, 2012, while hunting on Mount Randolph north of Moran.

While registering the bear with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, it was determined that Conger had in factkilled a grizzly bear. After an interview by Afton game warden Todd Graham, the hide and skull were seized and the case was carried out in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as grizzly bears are a federally protected animal. Upon concluding the investigation, it was decided the case would be prosecuted by the state and charges were filed through the Teton County Attorney’s Office, where Conger was charged with taking a grizzly bear without a license.

Still not convinced the bear he had killed was a grizzly, Conger pled not guilty to the charges and a jury trial was requested. A hide and hair sample from the bear was submitted to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Laramie for DNA analysis. The results confirmed that it was indeed the hide and hair of a grizzly bear. A two-day trial ensued that called several Game and Fish employees to the stand. However, after just a 30 minute deliberation the jury handed down a guilty verdict.

Teton County Circuit Court judge, James L. Radda, sentenced Conger to a fine of $2,500 plus $40 court costs and one year unsupervised probation. In addition, Conger’s hunting and fishing privileges were suspended for one year in Wyoming and 38 additional states that are members of the Wildlife Violator Compact.

“It is not often that a wildlife case goes to a jury trial, but when it does, it becomes a much more in-depth process for all who are involved,” said Graham. “The successful prosecution of this case was the result of great cooperation and hard work by a number of very dedicated people. We especially extend our gratitude to the Teton County prosecutor’s office and Judge Radda, for their commitment to enforcing our wildlife laws.”