Contacts:
Valley County Prosecutor Carol Brockman (208) 382-7120
Mike Keckler, chief, Bureau of Communications, Idaho Fish and Game (208) 287-2870
Tim Clemens, an Oregon resident, entered a guilty plea Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 to one count of poisoning animals and one count of unlawful take of big game.
Fourth District Magistrate Lamont Berecz ordered Clemens to serve 10 days of jail time, 200 hours of community service in lieu of an additional 20 days of jail time, and four years’ probation, during which time he cannot hunt. The court also ordered Clemens to pay $675 in fines, court costs and community service insurance, $400 in civil damages for the big game animal killed, and $10,000 in restitution to Idaho Fish and Game for investigative costs.
“This was a complex investigative effort by Fish and Game officers,” Valley County Prosecutor Carol Brockmann said. “Their investigation included packing into the remote area to locate the field-dressed carcass, obtaining DNA samples from the deceased animals, multiple interviews in two states and close cooperation with the prosecution effort. It was through these efforts this case was seen to a successful conclusion.”
The charges are the result of an investigation launched in January 2016, when Idaho Fish and Game conservation officers received a citizen report that two dogs had been poisoned in the Middle Fork Salmon River area during the fall hunting season. A veterinarian confirmed that one dog had died from poisoning, and a second dog had survived after treatment for poison symptoms.
Interviews of the dogs’ owner and others tied the incident to a field-dressed deer carcass. After winter snows receded, Fish and Game officers were able to access the remote area to gather evidence.
Sample results from a wolf carcass that the officers found near the site confirmed that it had ingested poison, and sample results from the poisoned dog matched the deer carcass. Clemens admitted to Fish and Game that he put a small amount of poison on the carcass of the deer he had killed after the meat was removed.
Brockmann filed criminal charges based on evidence from the scene, sample results, veterinary findings for the two dogs, Fish and Game’s interviews of Clemens and others.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, the court granted a withheld judgment. A withheld judgment means that, after completing his sentence and probation, Clemens may ask the court to dismiss the charges against him.