BIG GAMER GETS CONVICTION FOR BAITING

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, September 20, 2012

Colorado Big Game Outfitter Convicted of Six Lacey Act Violations

WASHINGTON – Big game hunting outfitter Dennis Eugene Rodebaugh, 72, of Meeker, Colo., was convicted by a federal jury in Denver today of six charges of violating the Lacey Act, announced the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

According to the indictment, Rodebaugh operated a Colorado big game outfitting business called "D&S Guide and Outfitter" beginning in 1988, offering multi-day elk and deer hunts to many non-resident clients in the White River National Forest for between $1,200 and $1,600. The indictment alleged that each summer between 2002 and 2007, the defendant outfitted numerous clients, on hunts in which deer and elk were shot from tree stands near which Rodebaugh placed hundreds of pounds of salt each spring and summer as bait. The placement and use of bait to aid in the taking of big game is unlawful in Colorado. The interstate sale of big game outfitting and guiding services for the unlawful taking of big game with the aid of bait constitutes a felony violation of the Lacey Act.

Each of the six felony counts on which the defendant was convicted carries a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine. Rodebaugh also agreed to forfeit two all terrain vehicles and a utility trailer used in the commission of the six Lacey Act crimes.

This case was investigated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney J. Ronald Sutcliffe and Trial Attorney Mark Romley, of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.