December 7, 2011
From IdahoPress.com
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A hunting and fishing outfitter from Soda Springs
has been ordered to spend 30 months in federal prison for illegally
leading clients on a mule deer hunt three years ago and failing to
divulge important information in a 2005 bankruptcy case.
A federal judge Wednesday also barred Sidney Davis, 46, from hunting,
fishing and guiding clients anywhere in the world for three years after
his release from prison.
Davis, the former operator of Trail Creek Lodge who once accused
former NBA star Karl Malone of bribery, pleaded guilty in May to guiding
clients from Nevada on an illegal hunt on public and private land in
October 2008.
Investigators claimed Davis and one of his employees guided the
hunters over a five-day period and arranged to have meat from a mule
deer shot during the hunt shipped back to Las Vegas.
Davis was charged with leading guiding and outfitting those clients
without a valid license as required under Idaho fish and game
regulations.
In his Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, Davis pleaded guilty to falsely
omitting important information from documents. Investigators say Davis
failed to list creditors who had claims against him and mentioning that
he had transferred 21 acres of land within a year before filing for
bankruptcy.
Davis has operated Trail Creek Lodge near Soda Springs since 1993,
but his outfitting and guiding license was revoked in 1996 by state
officials after admitting to other hunting and guiding violations.
"Mr. Davis repeatedly showed disrespect for the law and for judicial
process," said U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson. "Protecting our natural
resources and ensuring that hunters and guides follow fish and wildlife
laws is vital to all Idahoans."
In 2006, Davis attracted national attention when he accused Malone, a
former Utah Jazz basketball player, of offering to pay $25,000 if Davis
would protect him during an alleged illegal hunt in 1998. That case was
later dismissed by an Idaho judge.
