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10 CapitalPress.com October 6, 2017 Washington Ranchers plead guilty to gun charges Couple and their two grown sons could face as much as a year in prison By DAN WHEAT Capital Press SPOKANE — A former master of the Washington State Grange and his wife, who is a former Douglas County commissioner, and their two sons have pleaded guilty to federal charges re- lated to illegally buying and selling firearms. Terry Hunt was Grange master for many years and his wife, Mary, was a Repub- lican county commissioner from 1998 to 2010. Both are 72. They operate a wheat and cattle ranch with their sons, Rusty, 52, and Derek, 47, at Sims Corner, east of Mans- field in northern Douglas County. All four pleaded guilty to three counts each of aid- ing and abetting a false entry by a firearms dealer in U.S. District Court in Spokane on Sept. 6 and are scheduled for sentencing Dec. 7. Each could receive up to one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 on each count. In exchange for the pleas, U.S. attorneys will drop a 16-count grand jury indict- ment against the Hunts is- sued last December. The indictment alleged conspiracy, dealing firearms without a license and nu- merous counts of making false statements in buying Terry and Mary Hunt firearms from June 2011 through December 2015. Five-year prison terms and $250,000 fines were pos- sible on the conspiracy charge. Mary Hunt declined com- ment about the case to the Capital Press and said the family continues to operate its ranch. According to the plea agreement, filed Sept. 6, the prosecution and defendants stipulate to the following facts: The U.S. Bureau of Al- cohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began inves- tigating the Hunts in 2009, relative to the family’s sales of guns at the Big Reno Gun Show in Reno, Nev. The Hunts operated a vendor booth called “Hunt Family Farms” at the show three times a year. Investigators discovered the Hunts falsely filled out federal firearms forms and sold approximately 465 fire- arms for $273,954 between June 2012 and November 2015. The Hunts filled out forms when buying the guns in Washington indicating that the guns were for them- selves. However, the guns were sold in Reno. On April 18, 2012, Spe- cial Agent Heidi Wallace with the U.S. Bureau of Al- cohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a Cease and Desist Warning Letter to Terry Hunt. Hunt indicated it was the buyer’s problem, not his. Wallace told Hunt she would help him obtain a federal firearms license. In 2013, Hunt recruited a straw purchaser to buy guns and continued illegal actions. On Aug. 14, 2015, two undercover ATF agents bought guns from Mary Hunt at the Big Reno show. Hunt said the guns were transported to the show in the back of her Yukon SUV and that she would sell them without tax, transfer fees or paperwork. Hunt never checked the agents’ identification or el- igibility to possess firearms when she sold them two fire- arms. The undercover buy was audio and video record- ed. On Nov. 13, 2015, ATF served warrants at the Hunts’ ranch and recovered spread- sheets of firearms purchases and sales. The plea agreement calls upon the court to sentence the defendants to five years probation with no jail time and fines of $5,000 to be paid at no less than $1,000 per year. The Hunts are to abandon all rights to more than 100 firearms seized from their home during the execution of a search warrant in De- cember 2015. If the court rejects the agreement, the Hunts may withdraw their guilty pleas and the U.S. may prosecute them for any and all crimes. Groups say wolf kill notice allows time to take legal action By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Conservation groups that sued the Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife say they’ve reached an agreement with the agency to get enough advance notice about wolf kill orders to seek legal action to stop them. A department official says the agency hasn’t lost the abil- ity to take action. In a press release, the Center for Biological Diver- sity and Cascadia Wildlands said the department will pro- vide the groups 48 hours no- tice, including one business day, before killing problem wolves. According to the press re- lease, the agreement allows “time for pursuit of a tempo- rary restraining order to stop any killing.” Donny Martorello, wolf policy lead for WDFW, said attorneys for the agency and for the conservation groups essentially reached an agree- ment on scheduling for poten- tial preliminary injunctions if needed. They did not reach agreements on any merits of the case, he said. Under the scheduling agreement, the groups are not seeking a preliminary injunc- tion at this point, Martorello said. If a wolfpack reaches the point where the department considers killing problem wolves under its management plan, WDFW already gives advance notice to the pub- lic, depending on the method used. “If the plaintiffs then choose to take any kind of ac- tion to stop the agency, then that would be up to them,” he said. “There hasn’t been any loss of department authority or ability to take action.” Martorello said the depart- ment will continue to work with ranchers to use nonlethal deterrents to reduce conflict and look at criteria in its pro- tocols for when the agency might consider killing prob- lem wolves. “We’re going to continue to do all the things we have done in the past,” he said. Martorello said wolf con- servation is a “very highly controversial” topic nation- wide, with a history of litiga- tion. “We are disappointed that these two out-of-state groups have chosen to file a lawsuit, but the department is com- mitted to continue working with our citizens, stakehold- ers, wolf advocates, hunters and livestock producers as we have in the past,” he said. “We will deal with the litigation and lawsuit, and keep moving forward.” According to the conser- vation groups’ press release, the parties also agreed to cooperate to expedite the pending lawsuit to allow for a full hearing before Thur- ston County Superior Court Judge Chris Lanese before the 2018 grazing season be- gins. Skagit County home to lone wolf By DON JENKINS Capital Press HAY PRESS SUPPORT: • Hay Sleeves • Strap • Totes • Printed or Plain • Stretch Film (ALL GAUGES) WAREHOUSE PACKAGING: • Stretch Film • Pallet Sheets • Pallet Covers LOCATIONS: Albany, Oregon (MAIN OFFICE) Ellensburg, Washington CONTACT INFORMATION: Phone: 855-928-3856 Fax: 541-497-6262 info@westernpackaging.com ....................................................... CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OUR TOP PRIORITY! w w w. w e s t e r n p a c k a g i n g. c o m 40-3/100 Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tests confirm this wolf, photographed in May, is Western Washing- ton’s first known gray wolf in decades, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. of having wolves widely dis- persed. Wolves have recolo- nized northeast Washington, but will remain a state-pro- tected species until they are established in the North and South Cascades, too. The male wolf was pho- tographed in May by a man who reported the animal was attacking his chickens. Three weeks later, federal and state biologists captured the wolf and fitted him with a GPS col- lar to transmit his location. Froschauer said the wolf has remained in Western Washington. The wolf has been roam- ing north and west of Mar- blemount, a small community about 50 miles east of Mount Vernon and Interstate 5. So far, wildlife managers have not seen a mate or re- ceived any new reports from residents, she said. Wolves are federally pro- tected in Western and Central Washington. They are not a federally protected species in Eastern Washington. According to a 2011 re- port by the state wildlife de- partment, the last confirmed report of a wolf in Skagit County was 1927. Wolf tracks were seen in Clallam County in Western Washington in 1946, accord- ing to the report. In 2015, a female wolf was hit and killed by a vehicle on Interstate 90 within 30 miles of Seattle. 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The USFWS laboratory in Ashland, Ore., verified the animal wasn’t a hybrid, but was unable to link the wolf to the DNA taken from other wolves, USFWS spokeswom- an Ann Froschauer said Mon- day. “We have no specifics on the where the animal came from,” she said. A wolf west of the Cas- cades may be a milestone in meeting Washington’s goal 40-1/102 WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS!
