After a nearly two-year Colorado Parks and Wildlife investigation, a Kansas man has pleaded guilty to poaching a bull moose he illegally killed in Teller County and left to rot.
On July 10, Steven Samuelson, 33, of Oakley, Kan., pleaded guilty in Teller County District Court to willful destruction of wildlife, a felony, as well as misdemeanor charges of hunting without a proper and valid big game license, aggravated illegal possession of wildlife, failure to prepare wildlife for human consumption, hunting in a careless manner and illegal take of wildlife, according to a CPW news release.
Samuelson, who was fined about $20,000, received a two-year deferred jail sentence on the felony charge. It will be waived if he meets the terms of the plea agreement and to two years of unsupervised probation. He surrendered the bow he used to poach the moose as well as other property that contained evidence of the crime including his cellphone.
“As the agency responsible for perpetuating the wildlife resources of the state, Colorado Parks and Wildlife will not tolerate poaching,” said Tim Kroening, CPW Area Wildlife Manager for the Pikes Peak region, in the release. “Our officers are determined to stop people like Mr. Samuelson who think they can simply go kill any animal they like. I want to make it clear: Mr. Samuelson was not a hunter. He is a poacher.”
Samuelson was assessed 65 points against his hunting license, with just 20 needed to suspend hunting privileges.
The investigation began in September 2021 when CPW’s office in Colorado Springs received a report that someone had illegally shot a bull moose with an arrow in the woods north of Divide.
CPW investigators collected evidence from the site including photos and video from the reporting party’s game cameras which pinpointed the time of the incident as well as images of the suspect.
CPW and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism confronted Samuelson at his workplace and served a search warrant at his home to seize evidence. The Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.
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