Nathan Simms (aka Nate Simms), 31, was sentenced in U.S. Federal Court to three months in prison, six months of home confinement, three years of probation and a $2,000 fine, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Mike Porras.
Simms pleaded guilty in April to eight misdemeanor counts of violating the federal Lacey Act by transporting wildlife across state lines.
Simms is the last of six co-conspirators to be sentenced after an undercover Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer discovered the business was injuring and caging mountain lions and bobcats on hunting trips before releasing them for paid clients to kill.
The investigation revealed that they would use a telescoping pole onto which a large leg-hold trap had been attached, Hovinga said. The guides would tree a cat, snap the trap on the end of the animal's paw and leave the cat to suffer.
Then they would call clients, encourage them to travel western Colorado immediately, telling them that they had been able to track a bobcat or mountain lion.
"They’d fly out and they’d go up there, and (the guides) would put on quite a show as far as finding tracks and turning their dogs loose. The cat would be obviously not far from where they left it the previous day or days. Before the hunter got to a cat after he shot it, they would remove the trap and hide it," Hovinga said.
In other cases, they shot the lions in the paws, stomach, and/or legs.
“Any time you have an incident like this, our officers work very hard to bring the individuals involved to justice,” Porras said. “We’re satisfied to see that the individuals have paid the price for an egregious act of poaching.”
Christopher Loncarich, who owned the now-defunct outfitting business, is the only person other than Simms to receive a prison sentence in connection with the scheme. Loncarich began serving a 27-month federal prison sentence in 2014.
Four other co-conspirators were sentenced to combinations of probation, home confinement, community service and fines after pleading guilty to the charges against them.
Caitlin Simms, Christopher Loncarich’s daughter and Simms’ wife, was given a year of probation, a $1,000 fine and 60 hours of community service after pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the Lacey Act.
Andie Loncarich, Christopher Loncarich’s other daughter, was given a year of probation, a $500 fine and 36 hours of community service after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor Lacey Act violation.
Grand Junction resident Marvin Ellis was given three years of probation, six months of home detention and a $3,100 fine after pleading guilty to one felony count of conspiring to violate the Lacey Act.
Nicholaus Rodgers of Medford, Oregon, was given three years of probation, six months of home confinement, 50 hours of community service and $5,000 in fines after pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the Lacey Act.
"Rodgers admitted to personally assisting clients in unlawfully killing 11 mountain lions and five bobcats during the course of the conspiracy," a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services news release said.
Porras said that many of the cases investigated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife are successfully closed because of help from the public, which is what happened in this case.
(Grand Junction Daily Sentinel - Sept 20, 2016)
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