Washington hunter banned in Idaho

BOISE – A Washington state man has been banned for life from hunting in Idaho after pleading guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy for a poaching violation.

Christian Witt, 32, of Battle Ground, Wash., also pleaded guilty to 12 misdemeanor wildlife charges. His right to hunt in Idaho was revoked, and he was fined almost $30,000 and placed on probation for five years when he was sentenced Sept. 14 in 2nd District Court in Nezperce.

Witt received a withheld judgment in exchange for his guilty plea, which means there will be no felony conviction on his permanent record, said Jon Heggen, chief of law enforcement for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Heggen said there will be a felony on his record until he successfully completes his parole period.

Witt acted illegally as an outfitter, taking undercover officers on hunting trips and illegally killing elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black bear, pheasant and wild turkey, Heggen said. Wildlife officials watched Witt for about 18 months.

“These kind of habitual wildlife criminals out there are hard to catch; that’s why it takes a long, intense investigative effort,” Heggen said Monday.

Prosecutors filed a conspiracy charge against Witt, his father Billy Jack Witt, and several other men because they worked together, Heggen said.

“Sometimes conspiracy is easier to prove because they don’t actually have to kill something to do it, though they did,” Heggen said. “For example, Christian may not be the one that shot the elk, but he sure conspired to have that elk be killed.”

Billy Jack Witt, 58, was sentenced in July to pay a $9,750 fine, and his Idaho hunting license was suspended five years. The other men involved in the case got fines and suspensions of one or two years. Christian and Billy Jack Witt led the poaching, Heggen said.

“Him and his dad were the ringleaders,” he said.

Heggen said he knows of one other Idaho poacher who has been banned for life from hunting in the state.

Christian Witt and his father also took investigators from Idaho and British Columbia on an illegally guided salmon fishing trip at Terrace, B.C., in July 2004, Fish and Game said in a statement. They were arrested and charged in Canada. The Witts pleaded guilty to the charges in British Columbia in December and were fined $24,000 and forfeited seized equipment, Fish and Game said.