A big-game guide was sentenced to a year in federal prison Thursday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic in poached big game, according to federal prosecutors.
Eric Leon Butt Jr., 35, owner of Outdoor Adventures, which operated in southwestern Colorado, pleaded guilty to allowing non-state residents to hunt deer, elk and black bears in Colorado without a license, beginning in 2002.
Butt also must surrender all his guns and mounted trophy animals, as well as spend three years on supervised probation when he is released from prison under the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Walker D. Miller.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of this investigation, and hope that it will serve as a deterrent to others who might consider exploiting our nation’s wildlife for personal gain,” Honora Gordon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s acting special agent in charge, said in a statement.
