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Warrants served in trout, game poaching.
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - A Calder man suspected of leading what state officials called a ring of international poachers that took large amounts of cutthroat trout and big game animals has been arrested.
James L. Wilson, 57, was charged with illegal guiding and outfitting, releasing animals into the wild without permit and exchanging wildlife or parts.
Wilson has been held in the Shoshone County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond since his arrest last week.
More charges and arrests are pending, said Phil Cooper of the Department of Fish and Game.
Court documents said Wilson illegally possessed a bear, seven elk, wild turkey and cutthroat trout during October and allegedly traded trout for alcoholic beverages. Some of the evidence had been left to rot or was wasted through freezer damage, Cooper said.
The arrest was part of a joint undercover operation of Fish and Game and the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Board enforcement unit, Cooper said.
"They were taking a lot of fish and game using illegal methods during closed seasons and using transferred tags," Fish and Game conservation officer Jerry Hugo said. "In several instances, fish and game were taken without any licenses or tags."
State conservation officer Steve Agte said Wilson was operating under the guise of photography outfitter in a business called Call of the Wild. Several wildlife agents posing as clients accompanied him on several trips this month to confirm illegal activity.
"He didn't have a license for that to my knowledge," Agte said, and no record of Wilson ever having a sportsman's license could be found.
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - A Calder man suspected of leading what state officials called a ring of international poachers that took large amounts of cutthroat trout and big game animals has been arrested.
James L. Wilson, 57, was charged with illegal guiding and outfitting, releasing animals into the wild without permit and exchanging wildlife or parts.
Wilson has been held in the Shoshone County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond since his arrest last week.
More charges and arrests are pending, said Phil Cooper of the Department of Fish and Game.
Court documents said Wilson illegally possessed a bear, seven elk, wild turkey and cutthroat trout during October and allegedly traded trout for alcoholic beverages. Some of the evidence had been left to rot or was wasted through freezer damage, Cooper said.
The arrest was part of a joint undercover operation of Fish and Game and the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Board enforcement unit, Cooper said.
"They were taking a lot of fish and game using illegal methods during closed seasons and using transferred tags," Fish and Game conservation officer Jerry Hugo said. "In several instances, fish and game were taken without any licenses or tags."
State conservation officer Steve Agte said Wilson was operating under the guise of photography outfitter in a business called Call of the Wild. Several wildlife agents posing as clients accompanied him on several trips this month to confirm illegal activity.
"He didn't have a license for that to my knowledge," Agte said, and no record of Wilson ever having a sportsman's license could be found.
