[oucorry]

Alaska judge sets the bar: Poach like this, go to jail


Joseph Querin had the perfect 10-day Alaska hunt, dropping two Dall sheep, a moose, a brown bear and a caribou.

Too perfect, it turns out.

Querin, 54, of Ocean Park, Wash., killed the big game illegally and left the carcasses behind.

He now must serve a year in the hoosegow after pleading guilty this week to five criminal counts, the Anchorage Daily News reports from the City of Lights.

Poach like this, go to jail. That's the way it should be, simple as that. Bully for District Judge Brian Clark for delivering the appropriate penalty.

"Significant fines and jail are really essential in cases like this to help wildlife troopers do their job," Peterson said. "Alaska is so remote, there's no way they can catch everyone. It acts as a deterrent."

You said it, judge.

Querin also was ordered to serve four years of probation and pay a $4,000 fine, and he has lost his hunting privileges for four years, according to the newspaper.

Is that all? We're a little miffed he gets to hunt at all after the stunts he pulled.

Querin wasn't alone in his killing spree, which during August and September 2006 stretched from the Brooks Range south of Prudhoe Bay and along the Dalton Highway to the near the Turnagain Arm outside Anchorage. One Carson Kemmer, 25, a friend and fellow Washington resident, struck a plea deal earlier to testify against his poaching partner and thus avoid a jail sentence.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, the moose and sheep were sub-legal.

"It's unbelievable the number of animals they killed in a 10-day period," said assistant attorney general Andrew Peterson, according to the Daily News.

"They had the illegal hunting trip of a lifetime."

Best line we've heard in some time; thank you, prosecutor.

[birdman]

I think people who believe they are above the law and take game in this nature illegally, should face maximum penalties. I like that many states have pacts with one another. Colorado is one of about 20 or so states that are tied together in a "violator pact". You pull this s#%t in one state and lose your hunting privelages, you lose them in all partnering states.

[oucorry]

I agree I think they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law!!!!

[D Winkler]

Yeah, I agree. You do that crap anywhere you should be banned from hunting everywhere.

[Brooks]

I was wondering who his guide was if he had one. In Alaska, you are required to have a guide for Brown Bear and Dall sheep. If he had a guide, his guide should have been hammered also. I think he got off very lucky. A year in jail is pretty tough. I am sure he would have rather have paid a fine. When you think about it. A year in jail of lost wages could me many thousands of dollars plus what he has to go through.

[oucorry]

Yeah it doesn't really say anything about a guide but if they had one the guide should be hammered too!

[D Winkler]

Maybe not having a guide was part of what made it illegal.

[J_HANK]

Member States (as of December 2008):
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming .

The way I see it they all got off too light. the violator should have received at least 5 years, all accomplices should have received 1 year and the guide if there was one should have received a combination of all the fines and jail time plus lost all hunting privileges for life. They still would be scum in my book for giving hunting a black eye.