April 4, 2012
By7 Tom Morton, TribNews.com
A federal jury on Wednesday found an Oregon hunter guilty of
conspiracy and trafficking in wildlife between 2005 and 2008 in
violation of the Lacey Act of 1900, which prohibits the interstate
transportation of animals taken in violation of state laws.
Matthew S. Robinson, the fifth and final defendant in the illegal
hunting case, hung his head and looked stunned when the court clerk
announced the two guilty verdicts. The eight-man, four-woman jury
deliberated about eight hours over two days before reaching its
verdicts.
Robinson could face penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment, up
to $500,000 in fines and up to three years of supervised release,
according to the government’s indictment.
Robinson was the fifth and last defendant in the illegal wildlife
case in which four other defendants, including three from a Ten
Sleep family, entered plea agreements two weeks ago. These
defendants were Steven Farah of West Linn, Ore.; and Big Horn
Adventure Outfitters owner Richard “R.C.” Carter; his father,
Richard Carter Sr.; and his younger brother, Mark Carter.
In
a separate case, Robinson’s father, James Robinson, pleaded guilty
last year to one count of trafficking in illegal wildlife and was
sentenced to three years’ probation, ordered to pay $15,000 in
restitution and a $20,000 fine.
The Carters pleaded guilty
to taking more than a dozen paying hunters onto their land from 2003
to 2009, allowing them to kill elk, deer and antelope; using their
own landowner tags on the animals shot; falsely claiming in
affidavits they killed them; and then helping the hunters to
transport the animals to the hunters’ homes in Oregon, according to
court records.
The Game and Fish Department cited Robinson for an illegal kill
in 2005, and the defendant was upset that he didn’t know he had
broken the law, Weaver said.
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