belly-deep
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- Oct 31, 2009
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I heard about this on the radio today...maybe it is old news to you guys. I thought it was pretty funny though.
HAMILTON - A Skagit County, Wash., man was handed a five-year suspended sentence this week for his part in a 2003 poaching case.
Alan T. Sweet, 46, pleaded guilty to felony unlawful possession of game animals and misdemeanor accountability for hunting without a license.
His partner, Brent Mercado, 25, will decide in the next two weeks whether to withdraw his guilty pleas after hearing Ravalli County District Judge James Haynes say Thursday he would likely reject a plea agreement that recommended a deferred sentence.
The two men were charged in 2007 after Sweet's ex-wife contacted Washington authorities to report that the men had hunted illegally in Montana. She offered authorities photos of Sweet holding the young bighorn sheep's head and other evidence.
Washington game wardens interviewed Sweet in 2007, after which he signed a written account admitting to the illegal activity.
In that account, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks investigator J.D. Douglas said the men referred to their drive in 2003 through Montana, where they killed an antelope in Beaverhead County and a mule deer and a bighorn in Ravalli County, as their "big hunting trip."
Neither men had licenses to hunt in the state.
In the statement he gave to Washington investigators, Sweet admitted holding a spotlight while Mercado used the roof of his Chevrolet Blazer to steady his rifle before shooting the bighorn from the highway.
Sweet said Mercado also used his vehicle as a gun rest when he shot a mule deer in the trophy hunting district south of Darby.
Sweet has since changed his story, claiming his statement was taken under duress.
When he pleaded guilty earlier this year, Sweet told the court he had fallen asleep and Mercado had gone and shot the sheep by himself.
In turn, Mercado claims that Sweet was the trigger man. Both men have said they attempted to take the bullets away from the other at one point during the trip.
HAMILTON - A Skagit County, Wash., man was handed a five-year suspended sentence this week for his part in a 2003 poaching case.
Alan T. Sweet, 46, pleaded guilty to felony unlawful possession of game animals and misdemeanor accountability for hunting without a license.
His partner, Brent Mercado, 25, will decide in the next two weeks whether to withdraw his guilty pleas after hearing Ravalli County District Judge James Haynes say Thursday he would likely reject a plea agreement that recommended a deferred sentence.
The two men were charged in 2007 after Sweet's ex-wife contacted Washington authorities to report that the men had hunted illegally in Montana. She offered authorities photos of Sweet holding the young bighorn sheep's head and other evidence.
Washington game wardens interviewed Sweet in 2007, after which he signed a written account admitting to the illegal activity.
In that account, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks investigator J.D. Douglas said the men referred to their drive in 2003 through Montana, where they killed an antelope in Beaverhead County and a mule deer and a bighorn in Ravalli County, as their "big hunting trip."
Neither men had licenses to hunt in the state.
In the statement he gave to Washington investigators, Sweet admitted holding a spotlight while Mercado used the roof of his Chevrolet Blazer to steady his rifle before shooting the bighorn from the highway.
Sweet said Mercado also used his vehicle as a gun rest when he shot a mule deer in the trophy hunting district south of Darby.
Sweet has since changed his story, claiming his statement was taken under duress.
When he pleaded guilty earlier this year, Sweet told the court he had fallen asleep and Mercado had gone and shot the sheep by himself.
In turn, Mercado claims that Sweet was the trigger man. Both men have said they attempted to take the bullets away from the other at one point during the trip.
