Local men sentenced for hunting violations
March 27, 2008
Thursday
Ketchikan, AK - Six men have pled guilty to violations involving
illegal deer harvesting on the Tongass National Forest. The six men, 3
from Prince of Wales Island and 3 from Metlakatla, were charged with a
total of 26 violations, and have entered into plea agreements through
the United States Attorney's Office.
The incident that led to the charges occurred on October 3, 2007 on
Prince of Wales Island, when two vehicles were observed by a Forest
Service law enforcement officer leaving a closed Forest road that was
gated and locked. The lock to the gate appeared to have been shot off,
according to law enforcement officials for the Forest.
The incident involved damage to government property, use of an
artificial light to take big game, (spotlighting), being on a closed
road, failing to validate harvest tickets, shooting from a road, and
taking a doe out of season.
George Peratrovich of Klawock, AK, pled guilty to possession of
wildlife taken in violation of law, failure to validate harvest tags,
being on a closed road, and use of an artificial light to take wildlife.
Peratrovich was fined $3000.00 with $1500.00 suspended, loss of hunting
privileges for 1 year, probation for 1 year, and forfeiture of his
rifle.
Michael George of Klawock, AK, pled guilty to possession of wildlife
taken in violation of law, failure to validate harvest tags, and use of
an artificial light to take wildlife. George was fined $3000.00 with
$1500.00 suspended, loss of hunting privileges for 1 year, probation for
1 year, and forfieture of his rifle.
Timothy Peele of Hydaburg, AK, pled guilty to possession of wildlife
taken in violation of law, damage to government property, use of an
artificial light to take wildlife, and being on a closed road. Peele was
fined $3000.00 with $1500.00 suspended, loss of hunting privileges for 1
year, and probation for 1 year.
Jared Johnson of Metlakatla, AK, pled guilty to possession of
wildlife taken in violation of law, taking of a doe deer out of season,
failure to validate harvest tags, and use of an artificial light to take
wildlife. Johnson was fined $1800.00 with $1050.00 suspended, loss of
hunting privileges for 1 year, and probation for 1 year.
Apollo Marsden of Metlakatla, AK, pled guilty to possession of
wildlife taken in violation of law, being on a closed road, and use of
an artificial light to take wildlife. Marsden was fined $1300.00,
$800.00 suspended, loss of hunting privileges for 1 year, and probation
for 1 year.
Garen Blandov of Metlakatla, AK, pled guilty to possession of
wildlife taken in violation of law. Blandov was fined $500.00 with $250
suspended, loss of hunting privileges for 1 year, and probation for 1
year.
Source of News: United States Forest Service.
