Grand Junction Man Sentenced For Illegal Mountain Lion Hunts
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - A man who helped lead illegal hunts of mountain lions in western Colorado and Utah has been sentenced to three years of probation.
Marvin Ellis of Grand Junction also was ordered by U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer to serve six months of home detention and pay a $3,000 fine stemming from his 2012 guilty plea to conspiracy to violate a federal law that bans moving animals across state lines for such hunts.
According to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, court documents show clients paid Ellis and other guides to trap mountain lions or bobcats days before the clients arrived in the Grand Valley.
Authorities say the animals were fitted with leg-hold traps to hinder their movement, making it easier to hunt them.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
