An Idaho Springs man found guilty of killing a 6×6 bull elk in Evergreen in September 2007 was fined $10,000 and had 15 points assessed against his hunting license today in Jefferson County District Court.
The man, 27-year-old Larry C. Losch, was one of four men arrested by Colorado Division of Wildlife officers on Sept. 14, 2007, after investigators received a call that the bull elk had been killed.
DOW investigators went to the Evergreen area, found that the trophy elk had been killed with an arrow and set up surveillance of the carcass.
After nightfall, a truck dropped off three men, who cleaned and butchered the animal. The poachers then called the driver of the truck who dropped them off. When the truck returned, all four men were arrested.
Losch was the only one of the four to go to trial. He was found guilty of aggravated illegal possession of wildlife by a judge after a two day trial.
Pam Russell, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County district attorney’s office, identified the other men as John Keith Johnson, and Kim and Anthony Shrout.
Kim Shrout is the father of Anthony Shrout.
The Shrouts and Johnson each pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of wildlife, which adds a $10,000 penalty when someone is convicted of poaching a big game animal classified as six points or more.
The law was enacted after a massive bull elk, considered to be the “town mascot” of Estes Park, was slain by poacher Randall Lee Francis of Lakewood in November 1995 at the Estes Park Center of the YMCA of the Rockies. Francis was sentenced to 90 days in jail and paid a fine of $6,000.
Estes Park residents had named the bull elk Samson. The law adding the $10,000 fine became known as “Samson’s Law,” according to Russell. Samson was so-beloved by Estes Park residents that a statue of the elk is predominantly displayed in that mountain community.
Johnson, Kim Shrout and Anthony Shrout each face possible suspension of their hunting licenses in Colorado and 27 other states — all members of the Wildlife Violator Compact — for up to five years.
Kim and Anthony Shrout are Illinois residents.
Russell said that the total amount of fees and fines assessed is in excess of $45,000.
Of that, the $40,000 assessed from violation of the Samson law is earmarked for local law enforcement, which in this case is the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.
Russell said that the DOW encourages citizens to report poaching by calling 877-COLO-OGT or by calling their local law enforcement agency.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
