Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Four men, including one from Washington state,
have been charged in an illegal black-bear hunt on Prince of Wales
Island after an undercover investigation by Alaska and Idaho authorities
posing as hunters, Alaska State Troopers said yesterday.
The men were arrested in the southeast Alaska town of Ketchikan as
they got off a commuter ferry bringing them back from the seven-day
hunt.
The men face numerous misdemeanor criminal charges, including
operating without a state guiding license, leaving carcasses to rot and
taking more than the legal limit.
Authorities were tipped to the case in an e-mail that Gary Sanders of
Goodyear, Ariz., was advertising his guiding services on the Internet,
offering hunts for black bear in Alaska and deer in Idaho even though
he's not licensed to do so in either state, Sgt. Burke Waldron said.
An undercover officer from Alaska and Idaho each posed as a hunter
and made online arrangements to join the excursion on the island south
of Juneau.
Also along for the trip were Robert Novak, 40, of Auburn, Wash.,
accused of working as Sanders' assistant, and two hunters, Robert
Disidori, 31, a repeat client from Mickleton, N.J., and his friend, John
Shields, 31, of Rising Sun, Md. All four pleaded not guilty at their
arraignment at District Court in Ketchikan.
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company
