A Marine veteran is ordered to pay more than $16,500 and may also potentially lose his hunting and fishing privileges for life following numerous poaching violations.
Kyle Odle, 29, of Menifee, California, was sentenced June 20 following charges that include illegal outfitting and providing false military documents to buy licenses at in-state rates, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) tells The Daily Sentinel.
Odle avoided possible jail time of illegal outfitting, a felony, by accepting an offer to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of aggravated illegal possession of wildlife involving the illegal take of three or more big game animals, CPW said in a news release.
Odle received a deferred judgment and sentence on the condition he does not commit any additional violations for two years.
CPW an investigation began with a tip, and several local landowners and hunters provided information leading to Odle’s arrest by agency officers during the 2016 hunting seasons. During the probe, investigators also discovered Odle had killed a mule deer buck near Maybell without a proper and valid license — then failed to recover the carcass as required by law.
According to the CPW release, “In addition, Odle, a — sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps at the time of his arrest, presented falsified military documents to wildlife officers in an attempt to prove his Colorado residency. Officers say he used the documents to illegally purchase the Colorado hunting license at the lower, resident fee.”
The news release said Odle used military credentials to unlawfully buy resident hunting licenses for several years for himself and others not living in Colorado, including his 12-year-old relative, without the knowledge of the youth’s parents.
The Marine Corps reports Odle since has left the military for reasons unrelated to the poaching case.
Odle must also pay more than $5,000 in fines, donate $6,000 to Operation Game Thief and return $5,500 in restitution to several hunters he guided illegally for profit.
The judgment also directs Odle not to hunt, fish, outfit or guide for two years or he could receive up to a lifetime suspension of his hunting and fishing privileges in Colorado and 43 additional states that are parties to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, according to The Daily Sentinel.
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