Not guilty pleas in poaching case

Nick Ianniello

Mineral Independent

Two Mineral County men pleaded not guilty during their initial court appearances where they were presented with felony poaching charges Monday morning.

Joe Cantrell and William Marren have both been charged with the unlawful selling or possession of hunting licenses issued in violation of law, a felony.

According to an affidavit filed by Assistant Attorney General Kathleen Jenks, Cantrell, who is the owner and operator of Cantrell’s Outfitting and Fly Shop, illegally sold big game licenses to Richard Carr on Aug. 13, 2007, Aug. 16, 2008 and Sep. 16, 2008.

An affidavit filed by Mineral County Attorney Shaun Donovan accuses Marren of illegally purchasing licenses for Carr from Cantrell’s store on Sep. 16, 2008.

According to Montana State Law, hunters can only buy licenses for themselves and immediate family members and they must provide proof of identification and a signature at the time of purchase.

Cantrell was a licensed agent for Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and was authorized and trained to sell and distribute hunting licenses.

According to the affidavit, Cantrell sold licenses bearing the names Robert Sibley, Matt Nober, Toy Jagges, Carl Nober, Baeber A. Nober, Jesse Neixner, Timothy Macht and Lisa Macht to Carr.

Cantrell, or one of his employees, also sold licenses bearing the names Timothy and Lisa Macht to Marren.

Cantrell also sold licenses to Carr for his son Sean Carr, whose name was found listed twice in the Fish Wildlife and Parks database under two different spellings, which would theoretically have allowed him to purchase more hunting licenses than are legally allowed in Montana.

According to a press release from the Mineral County Attorney’s office, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officers investigated Richard and his wife Blair Carr for over a year before charging them for illegally operating an outfitting business called the Just Killing Time Hunter’s Retreat.

The affidavit filed by Mineral County Attorney Shaun Donovan states that Mineral County Fish, Wildlife and Parks Game Warden Mike Fegely requested assistance in investigating the Carrs in August of 2007.

During the next several months, Fegely and other wardens and investigators from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks learned that during the 2006 and 2007 hunting seasons the Carrs had hosted individuals at their residence that had come to Montana to hunt deer or elk.

They also learned that Richard Carr had accompanied these people into the field and had obtained big game hunting licenses for them that were illegal because they failed to comply with the regulations surrounding the issuance of a hunting license in Montana.

The affidavit states that the Carrs had accepted payments for as much as $1,500 per week for providing food, housing and guiding services to out-of-state hunters, which under Montana guidelines constitutes “outfitting.”

In November of 2008, two undercover Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks investigators arranged to use the Carr’s guiding services for $1,500 “per shooter.”

While being guided by Richard Carr, the two undercover investigators observed that he had in his truck a roll of unvalidated big game licenses that had been issued to Troy Jaggers and Blair Carr.

Investigators then obtained a warrant to search the Carr’s home and on Nov. 26, 2008 they found evidence of several illegally killed animals. Combined the Carrs are facing 20 different felony and misdemeanor charges related to their illegal hunting business.