Topeka Capital-Journal
Thursday, March 25, 2004
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
A federal indictment alleges people involved with a
western Kansas business used trucks, radios, cellular phones and an airplane
to take customers on guided wildlife hunts.
Eric Melgren, United States attorney for Kansas, announced
Wednesday in Topeka that federal charges had been filed against Dwight Floyd
Krebs and Cheri Krebs, both 51 and of Scott City, and James John Jenkins,
49, of Russell Springs.
The charges resulted from a joint undercover investigation
by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kansas Department of
Wildlife and Parks, Melgren said.
The indictment alleges the crimes were committed between
December 2002 and December 2003 as the Krebses operated Krebs Ranch Wildlife
and Trophy Hunts, a Scott City-area business for which Jenkins was a ranch
hand and guide.
According to the indictment:
. The Krebses advertised over the Internet and charged
customers $2,500 per person for guided hunts, in which clients were
illegally provided with game tags that had been issued to other people.
. Business operators and their clients hunted from motor
vehicles, using radios and an airplane to tell each other the locations of
deer and other wildlife. They illegally concealed animals they had shot in
their vehicles and took the carcasses to locations they controlled for
cleaning and processing.
. The Krebses and Jenkins knew the meat and animal parts
would be shipped in interstate commerce from Kansas to other states.
. On Dec. 5, 2003, Dwight Krebs flew the airplane over a
flock of geese and activated a siren, causing the geese to fly away from the
plane. That same day, he flew the plane over a herd of antelope at an
altitude of 20 to 25 feet and activated a siren,
causing the herd to run away.
The indictment charges the Krebses and Jenkins with one
count each of conspiracy to illegally take, receive, transport and process
wildlife, and transporting and selling in interstate commerce wildlife that
was illegally taken and had a market value of more than $350. If convicted,
each could faces a maximum of five years in federal prison without parole on
each of those counts.
Jenkins and Dwight Krebs also are charged with two counts
of using, or participating in the use of, an aircraft to harass and kill
deer. Each could face a maximum of one year on each of those counts.
Dwight Krebs also was charged with one count each of using
an aircraft to harass geese and using an aircraft to harass antelope. He
could face a maximum of one year on each of those counts.
Melgren said Jenkins and the Krebses had been released on
signature bonds and were scheduled for trial on May 26 in U.S. District
Court in Topeka.
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or
tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com
.
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