A Hartsel couple have pleaded guilty to illegally trapping and killing bobcats and then selling their pelts to buyers in Montana and Kansas.
Jeffrey M. Bodnar, 37 and his wife, Veronica Anderson-Bodnar, 46, used illegal leghold traps to capture the animals.
Once caught in the traps, the animals were sometimes shot by Bodnar, according to the federal indictment.
The couple received thousands of dollars from the sale of the pelts, according to the grand jury.
One buyer was an undercover agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
On March 6, 2008, the grand jury alleged, the couple sold four bobcat pelts to the undercover agent outside their home for $1,600.
Much of the trapping was done on U.S. Forest Service lands in Park County, according to the indictment.
Bodnar pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver to one felony count of conspiracy to transport or sell poached wildlife, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Anderson-Bodnar pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of trafficking poached wildlife and one misdemeanor count of making false statements.
Bodnar also admitted that he conspired with his wife to submit false records to the Colorado Division of Wildlife so they could obtain tags for the pelts.
In a pending case in Park County District Court, Bodnar also is accused of poaching a black bear, an elk, a mountain lion and a pronghorn, according to court documents.
The affidavits in the case are sealed.
On the federal charges, Bodnar faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the firearm charge.
In other court documents, Anderson-Bodnar admitted selling bobcat pelts to a buyer in Kansas in March 2008.
She also admitted that she submitted false documents to the Colorado Division of Wildlife in order to obtain tags for the pelts.
When she is sentenced Oct. 15, prosecutors will recommend five years of probation.
Prosecutors will also ask the judge to prohibit her from possessing firearms, hunting, trapping or fishing in the United States or accompanying anyone who is hunting, trapping or fishing.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
