Finally, After 23 years of complaints Idaho Authorities Arrest Poacher
Twenty-three years is a long time regardless of if you're in the military, serving time in prison, or growing up in America. Idaho Fish and Game have heard complaints and accusations against fifty-five-year-old Paul D. Coward for the last twenty-three years.
After conducting a three-year investigation concerning allegations of illegal hunting and other violations, Coward pled guilty and was sentenced to the following: revocation of his hunting privileges for ten years in Idaho.
The ban will also be in the other 48 member states of the Wildlife Violator Compact. He will serve 90 days in the county jail as part of a five-year suspended prison sentence.
Coward will serve his time thirty days a year, according to Idaho Fish and Game in a media release. The thirty prison sentences every year are to ensure that Coward does not take part in archery elk season. The court ordered him to pay $16,000 in fines, restitution, court costs, and $10,000 for unlawful possession of a mountain goat.
Idaho Fish and Game summarized just a few of the charges against Coward in a media release. "Early in 2021, Coward was charged with numerous misdemeanor and felony violations stemming from multiple search warrant executions which included: possession of drugs and paraphernalia, outfitting/guiding without a license, unlawful possession of firearms, hunting big game over unlawful bait, and a felony count of possession of unlawfully taken wildlife, which was a mountain goat he killed in Washington and had been hiding in his St. Maries home. "
Idaho Fish and Game say that these cases are difficult to prove due to the vast nature of hunting in Idaho. They credit the community and law enforcement for helping them solve poaching cases in our state.
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