In brief: Man shot by member of hunting party

A man was shot and killed by a member of his hunting party in a wooded area near Bayview, Idaho, on Tuesday evening.

David Howard, 22, of Bayview, died after 6:15 p.m. at the scene off of Careywood Cutoff Road, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department statement. Authorities did not say who shot Howard.

The incident was reported as a hunting accident, a county dispatcher said. But sheriff’s detectives were continuing their investigation late Tuesday. The release did not say whether anybody had been arrested.

Bayview is near Farragut State Park at the southern tip of Lake Pend Oreille.

No further information was available late Tuesday.

– Nick Eaton

Benewah County

Hunter likely shot self accidentally

A St. Maries hunter found dead Monday likely slipped and shot himself, according to the Benewah County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Bob Kirts said 32-year-old Brian Hill was loading an ATV into his pickup when he apparently slipped and grabbed his shotgun. Hill was shot once in the left side of his chest with the .410-gauge shotgun.

Kirts said the hunter was wearing caulked boots and possibly lost his footing on the metal bed of his truck.

Another hunter discovered the body outside the driver’s side door Monday morning, Kirts said.

The truck door was open and the truck had been left running, Kirts said. He suspects Hill died Sunday evening.

Hill was hunting in the XMas Hill Recreation Area about a mile east of St. Maries.

– Taryn Hecker

Spokane `

Couple sentenced in cigarette trafficking

Two North Idaho residents who were involved in trafficking contraband cigarettes have been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

Peter Mahoney, 54, was sentenced to 33 months in prison, and his wife, Peggy Mahoney, 38, was sentenced to six months home detention as a condition of three years of probation.

The sentences were handed down Friday after a two-day sentencing hearing before Judge Robert Whaley.

As part of their plea agreements with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Washington, the Mahoneys agreed to forfeit $1.4 million seized during a lengthy multiagency investigation.

The Mahoneys operated Warpath Smoke Shop in Plummer, Idaho, and sold wholesale cigarettes to retailers on Indian reservations in Washington without reporting those sales to Washington state, avoiding payment of that state’s cigarette taxes.

Mark Van’t Hul, Peggy Mahoney’s brother, of Havre, Mont., who also admitted his role in the conspiracy, was sentenced to two years’ probation.

Co-defendants Lyle Conway and Shawn Conway, both of Fife, Wash., previously were both sentenced to two years’ probation.

– Bill Morlin