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September 24, 2004
'Killer of wildlife' gets prison term
Associated Press
MISSOULA (AP) - Upbraiding the man labeled a "serial poacher" by state game wardens, a judge sentenced a Seeley Lake resident to prison Thursday for multiple wildlife violations.
"You're not even a slob hunter," District Judge John Henson told Dean Ruth, as Ruth and his wife stood in front of a jury box filled with antlers taken from illegally hunted animals. "You're simply a killer of wildlife."
Ruth, guilty of four felony counts of possessing illegally taken wildlife, received a 20-year prison sentence with 15 years suspended. Henson also handed Ruth a lifetime ban on hunting, fishing, possession of hunting weapons and accompanying other hunters. Ruth, 37, and his wife, Renita, were ordered to pay a combined restitution of $19,300 for 41 illegally killed game animals.
"You were not killing solely because you needed the meat," Henson said. "You were simply killing for pleasure and for profit. You continue to deny any true accountability or true guilt."
Henson also sentenced Renita Ruth to a five-year suspended prison sentence on one felony conviction of possessing illegally taken wildlife. She will not have hunting and fishing privileges during that time. The couple first faced a combined 12 felony and 31 misdemeanor charges in poaching that went on more than a decade.
"This was serial poaching," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Sgt. Joe Jaquith said in court. "This was as hardcore as it gets."
Jaquith and Warden Capt. Jeff Darrah testified of walls in the Ruths' trailer home covered with antler mounts. The game officials also described a shooting table in the Ruths' living room aimed out a window at a field strewn with hay and grain, a rifle with a homemade silencer and piles of trophy kill photographs.
The investigation turned up remains of more than 100 trophy-quality deer, elk, moose, bear, antelope and other animals. The wardens also said they observed vehicles equipped with spotlights for night hunting and four-wheeler trails leading into the woods from the Ruths' home, which is between the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area and the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
"I would say they've killed several lifetimes' worth of game," Darrah said. "I've only harvested four legal elk in 19 years. Dean Ruth has harvested enough elk for 10 guys' lifetimes."
While neither of the Ruths spoke at the hearing, several family friends testified and described Dean Ruth as a talented mechanic and generous neighbor.
"It's a shame there's not more people here to back him," said Dominic Casano, who worked with Ruth on excavating jobs. "They didn't know his name."
Defense attorney Dustin Chouinard asked for a suspended sentence, saying that would allow Ruth to support his wife and three teenage children and pay restitution. Chouinard also said Ruth has finished his training as an arc welder and could improve the family's annual income, which had been as low as $15,000.
Dean Ruth was also convicted of three federal felony poaching charges last October and one poaching charge in Pennsylvania in April 2003. The charges were filed after a search of their Montana home in November 2002.
'Killer of wildlife' gets prison term
Associated Press
MISSOULA (AP) - Upbraiding the man labeled a "serial poacher" by state game wardens, a judge sentenced a Seeley Lake resident to prison Thursday for multiple wildlife violations.
"You're not even a slob hunter," District Judge John Henson told Dean Ruth, as Ruth and his wife stood in front of a jury box filled with antlers taken from illegally hunted animals. "You're simply a killer of wildlife."
Ruth, guilty of four felony counts of possessing illegally taken wildlife, received a 20-year prison sentence with 15 years suspended. Henson also handed Ruth a lifetime ban on hunting, fishing, possession of hunting weapons and accompanying other hunters. Ruth, 37, and his wife, Renita, were ordered to pay a combined restitution of $19,300 for 41 illegally killed game animals.
"You were not killing solely because you needed the meat," Henson said. "You were simply killing for pleasure and for profit. You continue to deny any true accountability or true guilt."
Henson also sentenced Renita Ruth to a five-year suspended prison sentence on one felony conviction of possessing illegally taken wildlife. She will not have hunting and fishing privileges during that time. The couple first faced a combined 12 felony and 31 misdemeanor charges in poaching that went on more than a decade.
"This was serial poaching," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Sgt. Joe Jaquith said in court. "This was as hardcore as it gets."
Jaquith and Warden Capt. Jeff Darrah testified of walls in the Ruths' trailer home covered with antler mounts. The game officials also described a shooting table in the Ruths' living room aimed out a window at a field strewn with hay and grain, a rifle with a homemade silencer and piles of trophy kill photographs.
The investigation turned up remains of more than 100 trophy-quality deer, elk, moose, bear, antelope and other animals. The wardens also said they observed vehicles equipped with spotlights for night hunting and four-wheeler trails leading into the woods from the Ruths' home, which is between the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area and the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
"I would say they've killed several lifetimes' worth of game," Darrah said. "I've only harvested four legal elk in 19 years. Dean Ruth has harvested enough elk for 10 guys' lifetimes."
While neither of the Ruths spoke at the hearing, several family friends testified and described Dean Ruth as a talented mechanic and generous neighbor.
"It's a shame there's not more people here to back him," said Dominic Casano, who worked with Ruth on excavating jobs. "They didn't know his name."
Defense attorney Dustin Chouinard asked for a suspended sentence, saying that would allow Ruth to support his wife and three teenage children and pay restitution. Chouinard also said Ruth has finished his training as an arc welder and could improve the family's annual income, which had been as low as $15,000.
Dean Ruth was also convicted of three federal felony poaching charges last October and one poaching charge in Pennsylvania in April 2003. The charges were filed after a search of their Montana home in November 2002.
