Garfield County men plead guilty to poaching

Pair sentenced to spend time in jail and to pay substantial fines

Related story: Two men charged in big poaching case

PANGUITCH — Today in the Garfield County Courthouse, two men plead guilty to charges stemming from search warrants served over the Memorial Day weekend. During the search of a home and shed in Panguitch, officers from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Garfield County Sheriffs office found evidence that implicated the two Panguitch residents in the illegal killing of nine buck deer, two doe deer, and two buck pronghorn.

Confiscated skulls from Panguitch poaching case

Photo by Lynn Chamberlain, DWR

Gary Lyndyl Harp, age 35, plead guilty to two felonies; felony wanton destruction of protected wildlife and felony aiding and assisting in the wanton destruction of wildlife. He also plead guilty to four class A misdemeanors wanton destruction of wildlife in the case involving three deer and one pronghorn.

He will serve six months in jail, pay $18,000.00 in restitution jointly as a codefendant $2500 in fines. He also will forfeit the two rifles that he used to shoot the animals. Mr. Harp faces revocation of hunting privileges for up to 48 years in most of the United States.

Gavin Smith, age 19, plead guilty to one felony; felony aiding and assisting in the wanton destruction of protected wildlife and four class A misdemeanor wanton destruction of protected wildlife involving three deer and one pronghorn.

He will serve 60 days in jail, pay $18,000 in restitution jointly as a codefendant, $2500 in fines and forfeit the rifle that he used to kill the animals. Mr. Smith faces revocation of hunting privileges for up to 34 years.

Garfield County Attorney, Barry Huntington expressed satisfaction with the way the case turned out and expressed his gratitude to the officers from the Utah Division of Wildlife and Garfield County for the excellent work they did on the case.