A Haines man will serve 4 years on probation after his felony conviction of making a false record during a guided hunt, a violation of the Lacey Act that is intended to prevent wildlife trafficking.
John Katzeek was acquitted of eight other charges during a jury trial in Juneau last February.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess on Wednesday also prohibited Katzeek from any guiding activity while on probation, and ordered Katzeek to perform 200 hours of community service that cannot be in the form of teaching hunting skills. Katzeek can accompany and help his wife during subsistence gathering, but he cannot operate or possess firearms. He was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $1,500 in restitution.
Katzeek said in court that he was an honest man, and he and his wife rely on subsistence.
Katzeek was convicted on a felony charge related to a hunt that was conducted in October 2011. Prosecutors said Katzeek filed paperwork that included false information about meat taken from the field, date of the hunt, and the assistant guide who accompanied him on a hunt for a mountain goat.
His prosecution was part of a larger joint American-Canadian investigation into alleged illegal guided hunts and alleged illegal importation of wildlife into Canada. Federal prosecutors say 17 people in Alaska, Yukon and Alberta were charged with 55 violations as part of “Operation Bruin” that investigated guided hunts in the Haines area.
Ronald Martin, a former Haines guide, was sentenced to four years on probation and ordered to pay a $40,000 fine after pleading guilty to federal charges in October 2013. He was also ordered to forfeit bear and moose trophies, a small plane, a pick-up truck, a trailer, an ATV and a rifle used in hunts.
Brian Hicken, Kenneth Cox, and Tyler Antel–all of Alberta, Canada–faced charges of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and violating the Lacey Act with false labeling or reporting. Prosecutors alleged that Katzeek was a former guide who assisted in the illegal taking of mountain goats with the other three men as his clients. They were later acquitted of conspiracy and false reporting charges. Katzeek was also accused of importing two trophy Dall sheep using falsified documents, and was acquitted of those charges during trial.
