- Joined
- Mar 11, 2001
- Messages
- 70,011
- Reaction score
- 1,007
Poachers handed stiff sentences
Two investigations result in jail time, loss of privileges
Two bear-poaching investigations resulted in a variety of charges for six people, including jail sentences for two.
Oregon Statesman Journal
October 30, 2004
The fallout continues in a pair of bear-poaching investigations in the northeastern corner of Oregon, one of which lasted nearly two years.
Two people received jail sentences and revocation of hunting privileges, another was given a year of probation and loss of hunting rights and three others were fined and have been banned from hunting in Oregon for five years.
The investigations were conducted by troopers from The Dalles office of the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division.
Charges included illegal use of bait for taking bears, allowing a bear to go to waste, criminal trespass, falsely applying for resident licenses and hunting tags and other violations that were investigated in Wasco County.
Michael McCall, 54, of Mosier was arrested in September 2003. An accomplice, Kelly Ross, 29, of Mosier also pleaded guilty to a variety of charges.
Also sentenced to jail time as a result of the second investigation was William C. Phillips, 30, of Vancouver, Wash.
Three others also were cited, pleaded guilty and received fines and suspension of hunting privileges in the incident involving Phillips.
Here's a rundown of the violations and sentences:
McCall/Ross
McCall was sentenced for taking a bear using bait, which is illegal; taking a bear without having a valid bear tag; trespassing; allowing a bear that he killed to go to waste; and second-degree criminal mischief.
He was given 10 days in jail, 24 months probation with a no-hunting clause, suspension of hunting privileges for five years, a $1,000 fine plus $2,500 restitution to Oregon State Police and $400 restitution to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a $91 jail assessment, and forfeiting his 1995 F150 pickup truck, a Honda four-wheel all-terrain vehicle, a .308 caliber rifle and other equipment.
Ross pleaded guilty to taking a bear using bait, waste of a bear and criminal trespass while hunting.
"McCall and Ross demonstrated not only a complete disregard for the value of Oregon's wildlife, but also a total lack of respect for private property rights," Trooper David Anderson, a game enforcement officer out of The Dalles office, said in a press release about the sentencing.
According to the report, McCall, who was hunting without a tag, killed a bear over bait while trespassing on SDS Lumber Co. land during an access closure because of fire season.
Using "thousands of pounds of fruit" hauled in to a bait station, McCall killed a bear, removed the gall bladder and claws, then dragged it about a half-mile behind the all-terrain vehicle before rolling the carcass down an embankment to rot, the report continues.
McCall also installed an iron gate on the timber company property and posted it with a "No Trespassing" sign to hide the illegal activity, it said.
According to the report, Ross was involved in the baiting, and in videotaping the kill.
He was given 12 months probation with a no-hunting clause, five years of suspended hunting privileges, $2,500 restitution to Oregon State Police and $400 to Fish and Wildlife.
Phillips
Using a relative's address to illegally apply for Oregon resident licenses and tags, the Washington man used a rifle to illegally kill a bear over bait in 2002, according to the report.
In 2003, he used a bow and arrow to illegally take another bear, and even entered that trophy and received first prize in the Head and Horns competition at the Portland Sportsmans Show, police officials said.
He pleaded guilty to illegally using bait to take a bear in 2003 and using a false address to buy Oregon resident licenses and tags in 2003 and 2004.
Phillips was sentenced to three days in jail, two years probation with a no-hunting clause, five years suspension of hunting privileges, and more than $5,000 in fines and restitution.
He also had to forfeit a rifle, bow and three trophy bears, two deer, one antelope and a pair of Danner boots.
The boots were acquired with a gift certificate that Phillips received as a prize in the trophy competition, the report said.
Also fined and receiving five-year suspension of hunting privileges were Phillips' accomplices who pleaded guilty in helping with the bear-baiting.
They are: Matthew J. Rembisz, 31, of Vancouver, Wash.; Brian L. Delph, 30, of Sandy; and Jason E. Lind, 30, of Camas, Wash.
Two investigations result in jail time, loss of privileges
Two bear-poaching investigations resulted in a variety of charges for six people, including jail sentences for two.
Oregon Statesman Journal
October 30, 2004
The fallout continues in a pair of bear-poaching investigations in the northeastern corner of Oregon, one of which lasted nearly two years.
Two people received jail sentences and revocation of hunting privileges, another was given a year of probation and loss of hunting rights and three others were fined and have been banned from hunting in Oregon for five years.
The investigations were conducted by troopers from The Dalles office of the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division.
Charges included illegal use of bait for taking bears, allowing a bear to go to waste, criminal trespass, falsely applying for resident licenses and hunting tags and other violations that were investigated in Wasco County.
Michael McCall, 54, of Mosier was arrested in September 2003. An accomplice, Kelly Ross, 29, of Mosier also pleaded guilty to a variety of charges.
Also sentenced to jail time as a result of the second investigation was William C. Phillips, 30, of Vancouver, Wash.
Three others also were cited, pleaded guilty and received fines and suspension of hunting privileges in the incident involving Phillips.
Here's a rundown of the violations and sentences:
McCall/Ross
McCall was sentenced for taking a bear using bait, which is illegal; taking a bear without having a valid bear tag; trespassing; allowing a bear that he killed to go to waste; and second-degree criminal mischief.
He was given 10 days in jail, 24 months probation with a no-hunting clause, suspension of hunting privileges for five years, a $1,000 fine plus $2,500 restitution to Oregon State Police and $400 restitution to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a $91 jail assessment, and forfeiting his 1995 F150 pickup truck, a Honda four-wheel all-terrain vehicle, a .308 caliber rifle and other equipment.
Ross pleaded guilty to taking a bear using bait, waste of a bear and criminal trespass while hunting.
"McCall and Ross demonstrated not only a complete disregard for the value of Oregon's wildlife, but also a total lack of respect for private property rights," Trooper David Anderson, a game enforcement officer out of The Dalles office, said in a press release about the sentencing.
According to the report, McCall, who was hunting without a tag, killed a bear over bait while trespassing on SDS Lumber Co. land during an access closure because of fire season.
Using "thousands of pounds of fruit" hauled in to a bait station, McCall killed a bear, removed the gall bladder and claws, then dragged it about a half-mile behind the all-terrain vehicle before rolling the carcass down an embankment to rot, the report continues.
McCall also installed an iron gate on the timber company property and posted it with a "No Trespassing" sign to hide the illegal activity, it said.
According to the report, Ross was involved in the baiting, and in videotaping the kill.
He was given 12 months probation with a no-hunting clause, five years of suspended hunting privileges, $2,500 restitution to Oregon State Police and $400 to Fish and Wildlife.
Phillips
Using a relative's address to illegally apply for Oregon resident licenses and tags, the Washington man used a rifle to illegally kill a bear over bait in 2002, according to the report.
In 2003, he used a bow and arrow to illegally take another bear, and even entered that trophy and received first prize in the Head and Horns competition at the Portland Sportsmans Show, police officials said.
He pleaded guilty to illegally using bait to take a bear in 2003 and using a false address to buy Oregon resident licenses and tags in 2003 and 2004.
Phillips was sentenced to three days in jail, two years probation with a no-hunting clause, five years suspension of hunting privileges, and more than $5,000 in fines and restitution.
He also had to forfeit a rifle, bow and three trophy bears, two deer, one antelope and a pair of Danner boots.
The boots were acquired with a gift certificate that Phillips received as a prize in the trophy competition, the report said.
Also fined and receiving five-year suspension of hunting privileges were Phillips' accomplices who pleaded guilty in helping with the bear-baiting.
They are: Matthew J. Rembisz, 31, of Vancouver, Wash.; Brian L. Delph, 30, of Sandy; and Jason E. Lind, 30, of Camas, Wash.
