https://magicvalley.com/outdoo...5c-a37a86a4a55c.html


LINK HAS PHOTO OF SKULL/HORNS.



One too many bighorns: Illegal possession of bighorn sheep leads to fines for Parma resident


EVIN ONEALE Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Jan 24, 2021



PARMA — A successful bighorn sheep hunt in the canyonlands of Owyhee County is a thing to be celebrated. But for a Parma man and his wife, that celebration eventually led to lawlessness.

In 2017, only one bighorn sheep hunt tag was allotted for hunt unit 40, an area encompassing the vast southwest corner of Idaho. Thirty-nine people applied for the coveted tag, which ultimately was awarded to Susan Willmorth, 58, of Parma. Guiding her on this hunt of a lifetime was her husband, Joe Willmorth, 49. Several weekends of scouting led the pair to a rugged, isolated area deep in the heart of the Owyhee Canyonlands. In late September, Susan bagged a fine, trophy bighorn sheep.

Just days later, Joe and Susan revisited the remote area. The bighorn ram known to them as the “old man” had been Susan’s September quarry; they’d spotted the massive bighorn on several scouting trips. But when the season opened, the old man disappeared.

Multiple days scouting bighorns gave the couple a good idea where the local sheep population lived. And because Susan had the only sheep tag for this remote area odds were low of encountering other people.

On Oct. 6, Joe Willmorth walked into the Fish and Game Nampa office carrying a trophy bighorn sheep head and his wife’s proxy statement. He was there to have the horns measured and an identification pin inserted as required by law. The ram was impressive, and Willmorth claimed that his wife harvested the trophy on Oct. 1. A department staffer measured and pinned the sheep, and took a number of photos of the prize ram.



In early February 2018, news reached Fish and Game that all was not right with the Willmorth ram. The ensuing investigation led to a search warrant of the Willmorth residence where the ram checked months earlier at the Fish and Game office was seized, along with a salted bighorn hide, and several electronics. The hide and cellphone images would prove to be the Willmorth’s undoing.

Throughout the months-long investigation, and hours of interviews, Joe and Susan Willmorth consistently denied any wrongdoing. DNA forensics and cell phone photos told a different story. Lab tests proved conclusively that the bighorn hide and horns were from two different sheep. A seized cell phone showed photos of Susan Willmorth posing proudly with her hard earned, freshly-harvested bighorn on Sept. 23. But further into the reel, photos of live sheep appeared, then a close-up photo of a freshly-killed bighorn ram. The date stamp on those photos was Oct. 1. Officers then compared the photo of Susan Willmorth posing with her harvested ram, to photos of the ram checked on Oct. 6, and deduced that they were two different sheep.

The forensic and photographic evidence was enough for prosecutors to file unlawful possession charges against both Willmorths. A plea agreement in the weeks that followed led to the dismissal of charges against Susan Willmorth. Joe opted for an Alford plea, meaning he did not plead guilty to the charges, but acknowledged that the evidence would likely lead to a conviction.



Joe Willmorth appeared before Magistrate Judge Debra Orr in Canyon County court this past November to hear his sentence. For the illegal possession of a bighorn sheep, a $10,000 civil penalty was imposed, along with processing fees, court costs and fines of $1,125. A six-month jail sentence was suspended in lieu of two years unsupervised probation.

Perhaps more painful, Joe’s hunting and trapping privileges, together with an outdoor guide license, were revoked for seven years. This revocation of privileges extends to forty-eight other states, all members of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Further, as a condition of his probation, Willmorth may not accompany anyone on any hunting or trapping excursions, or be present in the camp of a hunter or trapper. Doing so would be a direct probation violation and earn Joe a six-month stay in the Canyon County jail.

The trophy ram checked in by Joe Willmorth on Oct. 6 was surrendered to Fish and Game as part of Willmorth’s sentencing. It will one day hang in the Nampa Fish and Game office, together with the story of how it came to reside there. Judge Orr also ordered the Willmorths to forfeit Susan’s bighorn sheep head. As of this writing, that bighorn has not materialized.

That's sad about the extra kill and I'm glad they got caught.
My brother and I successfully hunted the unit next to 40 in the year 2000.
Sheep are such rare beauties that it's tragic when one is taken through poaching.
Zeke

I am surprised by the very mild sentence for poaching one of the most majestic game animals on the planet.
Only $11,000.00 in fines, two years probation and loss of hunting/trapping/guiding privileges for 7 years for poaching a Trophy Rocky Mtn Bighorn and actually killing TWO Trophy Rocky Mtn Bighorns!!
This guy is a scum bag and should not even be allowed to buy a fishing license or own a gun for the rest of his life . This douche hasn’t even surrendered his wife’s killed Bighorn, really??
All of his outdoor privileges should be removed for life and send his ass to jail for 6 months minimum.
You wonder what kind of guiding career this guy had and what type of ethics were used with his clients.

quote:

Originally posted by 4WD:
I am surprised by the very mild sentence for poaching one of the most majestic game animals on the planet.
Only $11,000.00 in fines, two years probation and loss of hunting/trapping/guiding privileges for 7 years for poaching a Trophy Rocky Mtn Bighorn and actually killing TWO Trophy Rocky Mtn Bighorns!!
This guy is a scum bag and should not even be allowed to buy a fishing license or own a gun for the rest of his life . This douche hasn’t even surrendered his wife’s killed Bighorn, really??
All of his outdoor privileges should be removed for life and send his ass to jail for 6 months minimum.
You wonder what kind of guiding career this guy had and what type of ethics were used with his clients.

Amen to this too^^^^

Apparently it is far, far cheaper to pay the fine for hunting one illegally than it is to pay to hunt one legally. That is very sad.

quote:

Originally posted by Overland:
Apparently it is far, far cheaper to pay the fine for hunting one illegally than it is to pay to hunt one legally. That is very sad.

OR, actually hunt TWO of them!
And then the arrogance of the poacher to not surrender the rams head he was ordered to.
This poacher has to be a real piece of work.

Pay $165k for the Idaho special sheep auction tag or $11k in fines for doing it however and whenever you want.

Agree the fine wasn't enough for what was lost. Those 2 rams would have brought a lot more money than that to the state.

I also am surprised that Idaho law does not place a higher value on bighorns. Maybe a resident can shed some light on this.

I guess I am missing something.

Wife apparently legally took Ram #1. All charges against her dropped. Why are some of you wanting to bring in Ram #1? Assuming the story is complete, if Ram #1 was legally taken I have no idea how any judge could require forfeiture of the head/horns.

Everyone has their own opinion on if the penalties fit the crime, but the judge is bound by the penalties prescribed in the laws. If you don't like the penalties then work to get them changed. I get that this guy illegally killed a mature ram but he didn't kill the last unicorn on earth. From what I can determine, the following applied as far as penalties/sentencing. We do not know what evidence they had on the guy or if they would have prevailed in a trial. He took a plea and appears to have been fined/sentenced as much as if he was convicted in a trial. From what I found, these apply.:

IDAHO TITLE 36 states "Unlawful killing, possession or waste of wild animals, birds and fish — Reimbursable damages"...."(a) In addition to the penalties provided for violating any of the provisions of title 36, Idaho Code, any person who pleads guilty, is found guilty of or is convicted of the illegal killing or the illegal possession or illegal waste of game animals or birds or fish shall reimburse the state for each animal so killed or possessed or wasted as follows:...
2. Caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, grizzly bear and moose, one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per animal killed, possessed or wasted.

Provided further, that any person who pleads guilty, is found guilty of, or is convicted of illegal killing, illegal possession or illegal waste of a trophy big game animal as defined in section 36-202(h), Idaho Code, shall reimburse the state for each animal so killed, possessed or wasted, as follows:...
1. Trophy mule deer: two thousand dollars ($2,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
2. Trophy white-tailed deer: two thousand dollars ($2,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
3. Trophy elk: five thousand dollars ($5,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
4. Trophy bighorn sheep: ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
5. Trophy moose: ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
6. Trophy mountain goat: ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
7. Trophy pronghorn antelope: two thousand dollars ($2,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
8. Trophy caribou: ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted;
9. Trophy grizzly bear: ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per animal killed, possessed or wasted.

AND

(c) Misdemeanor Penalty. Any person entering a plea of guilty for, found guilty of or convicted of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this title or rules or proclamations promulgated pursuant thereto shall, except in cases where a higher penalty is prescribed, be fined in a sum of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and/or by commitment to jail for not more than six (6) months. The minimum fine, per animal, fish or bird, for the illegal taking, illegal possession or the illegal waste of the following animals, fish or birds shall be as indicated below: Animal, Fish or Bird... Minimum Fine...Bighorn sheep, mountain goat and moose $500

AND

License revocation - the section is too long to quote, but it appears to me like the judge gave the maximum revocation.

Not letting The poacher keep the wife’s ram because how I read it he lied about the date in which his wife’s ram was supposedly killed.
The judge did give him a lighter penalty, he suspended the poachers 6 month jail sentence. That sentence should never have been suspended.
I am a little surprised by IDAHO’s light fines and sentencing. No defense for the this guy , he is a poacher, a low life.

Why?

Why would any sensible person do something like this?

quote:

Originally posted by erict:
I guess I am missing something.

Wife apparently legally took Ram #1. All charges against her dropped. Why are some of you wanting to bring in Ram #1? Assuming the story is complete, if Ram #1 was legally taken I have no idea how any judge could require forfeiture of the head/horns.

His wife’s ram was legally taken, but was never sealed. He instead had his poached ram sealed and signed off that it was his wife’s. (I believe that is correct)

So his wife’s ram is still unsealed and therefore cannot legally be possessed. Wouldn’t you think that possessing an unsealed ram would lead to it being forfeited?


As far as your assertion that the penalty he was given was not reduced even though he cut a plea, I wonder if they threatened to levy fines and loss of hunting privileges against his wife for her illegal(unsealed/unreported) ram? After all, she had given false statements to the F&G cops. I’m guessing the fact that she gave false statements put her in a real tight spot when the truth came out.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why?

Why would any sensible person do something like this?

That is an easy one: he had a trophy class ram located and he thought that he could get away with killing it and tagging it with his wife’s tag. Criminal minds can’t pass up an opportunity like that.

The real question is: why in the world couldn’t he keep his mouth shut? They were obviously going to get away with poaching the ram until someone tipped off the F&G cops. That is awesome he was part that always seems to get these guys: they have to brag about getting away with their caper.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

His wife’s ram was legally taken, but was never sealed. He instead had his poached ram sealed and signed off that it was his wife’s. (I believe that is correct)

So his wife’s ram is still unsealed and therefore cannot legally be possessed. Wouldn’t you think that possessing an unsealed ram would lead to it being forfeited?

Yes, I did not think of the sealing aspect. It does seem odd though that SHE had to forfeit her head but was not convicted or pleaded to anything.

It is amazing they could have easily gotten away with this but managed to get caught.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why?

Why would any sensible person do something like this?

Saeed, the problem with your question is using the word “sensible”. There was nothing sensible with this fellow. He’s an idiot.

I have a close friend who is a Game Warden in California. For years, he has told me that the heavy majority of cases they make are because the idiot who broke the law couldn’t keep his mouth shut and someone turned him in. Remember the old saying, “Loose lips sink ships”?

Finally, I do a lot of duck hunting near Parma; the town this idiot lives in. We are in town regularly. It’ll be interesting to see what some of my friends who live there say about this fellow and his wife.

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why?

Why would any sensible person do something like this?

Saeed, the problem with your question is using the word “sensible”. There was nothing sensible with this fellow. He’s an idiot.

I have a close friend who is a Game Warden in California. For years, he has told me that the heavy majority of cases they make are because the idiot who broke the law couldn’t keep his mouth shut and someone turned him in. Remember the old saying, “Loose lips sink ships”?

Finally, I do a lot of duck hunting near Parma; the town this idiot lives in. We are in town regularly. It’ll be interesting to see what some of my friends who live there say about this fellow and his wife.

He's an idiot...there's the understatement of the year!

As you know pal, I've hunted 40 a lot for elk...where the sheep are is very remote, no people, etc. Regardless, I just can't believe anyone would ever be that stupid...how is any of this remotely worth it? What a damn shame...for the sheep and the people of Idaho that is!

probably shot smaller one first, then saw bigger one. happens on Public Land hunts more than we know Im sure. Me first attitude.

quote:

Originally posted by eny:
probably shot smaller one first, then saw bigger one. happens on Public Land hunts more than we know Im sure. Me first attitude.

That is more or less what happened.

They found a huge ram while scouting then ended up killing a smaller ram during the season. Then he/they went back out and found and killed the big ram a week later and had the big ram sealed as though it was the legal kill that they had the tag for.

Pretty darn premeditated and underhanded. I'm glad they took his hunting privileges and his outfitter license. What a jerk.