A Hartsel couple has pleaded guilty to illegally trapping and killing bobcats and then selling their pelts to fur buyers in Montana and Kansas.
Jeffrey M. Bodnar, 37 and his wife, Veronica Anderson-Bodnar, 46, used illegal leghold traps then killed the animals and sold their pelts.
In Colorado, legalhold traps are outlawed except in rare circumstances, according to the federal indictment against the couple.
Once caught in the traps, the animals were sometimes shot by Bodnar, according to the indictment.
The couple received thousands of dollars from the sale of the pelts to buyers, according to the grand jury.
One buyer, however, was an undercover special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On March 6, 2008, the grand jury alleged that 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 violate the Lacey Act and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Anderson-Bodnar pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of Lacey Act trafficking and one misdemeanor count of making false statements in violation of the Lacey Act.
The Lacey Act is a federal law which makes it illegal to transport or sell in interstate commerce any wildlife taken, transported or sold in violation of state law or regulation.
Bodnar also admitted that he conspired with his wife to submit false records to the Colorado Division of Wildlife in order to obtain tags for the pelts.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver said in a release that Bodnar’s guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon stemmed from his conviction on a state felony charge in 2000.
Prosecutors said in court documents that during Bodnar’s sentencing hearing on Oct. 15, they will present evidence that Bodnar had as many as seven firearms.
In a pending case in Park County District Court, Jeffrey Bodnar 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.
At the federal sentencing hearing, Bodnar could possibly face a maximum penalty 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 to selling bobcat pelts to a buyer in Kansas in March 2008. She also admitted to submitting false documents to the Colorado Division of Wildlife in order to obtain tags for the pelts.
During her Oct. 15 sentencing, prosecutors will recommend that she be sentenced to five years of probation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver.
Prosecutors will also ask the judge to prohibit her from possessing firearms and that she be prohibited from hunting, trapping or fishing in the United States or accompanying anyone who is hunting, trapping or fishing.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Colorado Division of wildlife.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
