https://www.justice.gov/usao-a...t-subsistence-permit



Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Alaska
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, October 15, 2020

North Pole Man Charged For Illegal Hunting And Filing Fraudulent Subsistence Permit Applications

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that a North Pole man has been charged in a 32 count Information alleging violations of the Lacey Act and other federal laws stemming from a 16 year span of submitting fraudulent Federal Subsistence Permit Applications and subsequent illegal hunting and transporting of wildlife in a Federal Subsistence Area located south of Delta Junction, Alaska.

According to the charging document, between 2002-2018, Robert John Albaugh, 58, and his wife applied for and received a combined 63 Federal Subsistence Hunt permits for Game Management Unit 13 and took 23 caribou and 1 moose pursuant to those permits by falsely claiming to be rural residents of Delta Junction, AK, in order to take unfair advantage of federal regulations that seek to support the long-standing subsistence traditions of rural Alaska.

In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which protects the subsistence needs of rural Alaskans. Subsistence is defined by federal law as “the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools or transportation; for the making and selling of handicraft articles out of nonedible by-products of fish and wildlife resources taken for personal or family consumption; and for the customary trade, barter or sharing for personal or family consumption.”

The Federal Subsistence Management Program is a multi-agency effort to provide the opportunity for a subsistence way of life by rural Alaskans on Federal public lands and waters while maintaining healthy populations of fish and wildlife. Subsistence fishing and hunting provide a large share of the food consumed in rural Alaska. Nowhere else in the United States is there such a heavy reliance upon wild foods. This dependence on wild resources is cultural, social and economic. Alaska's indigenous inhabitants have relied upon the traditional harvest of wild foods for thousands of years and have passed this way of life, its culture, and values down through generations. Subsistence has also become important to many non-Native Alaskans, particularly in rural Alaska.

Robert Albaugh is currently awaiting his first court appearance on the charges. If convicted, Albaugh faces up to one year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine on each count. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The Bureau of Land Management Office of Law Enforcement and Security conducted the investigation following a separate investigation of the Albaughs by the Alaska Wildlife Troopers for Taking of Wildlife Closed Season. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan D. Tansey for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Alaska.

These charges are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Topic(s):
Wildlife
Component(s):
USAO - Alaska
Press Release Number:
20-064

This article was in our paper this morning.
It sure sounds like they have pretty solid case. I don't know this guy or his circumstances, but it just really doesn't make sense to cheat.

quote:

Originally posted by Alaska Hunter:
This article was in our paper this morning.
It sure sounds like they have pretty solid case. I don't know this guy or his circumstances, but it just really doesn't make sense to cheat.

They need to hang them out to dry if Guilty!

quote:

North Pole man

Santa?

Reindeer are caribou

Looking like Christmas is cancelled too.

Most of those "Federal" subsistence hunts are B.S. White man's welfare crap. Got to say, 23 caribou during those years? They put the effort in. The only real advantage they get is an early season and they get a tag every year, whereas normal residents can only get a Unit 13 tag every other year (per individual).

https://www.justice.gov/usao-a...-subsistence-permits


Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Alaska
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 29, 2021

North Pole Man Sentenced for Illegal Hunting and Fraudulent Subsistence Permits

FAIRBANKS – Robert J. Albaugh, 58, of North Pole, Alaska, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Fairbanks for violating the Lacey Act and other federal laws stemming from the illegal hunting of caribou and moose after fraudulently obtaining federal subsistence permits.

Albaugh previously pled guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Lacey Act and another federal law prohibiting false statements on subsistence hunting permit applications. Albaugh was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline to pay a fine of $5,000 and serve 30 months of federal probation, during which Albaugh is prohibited from hunting, fishing or trapping anywhere in the world.

According to the plea agreement, between 2002 and 2018, the defendant and his wife applied for and received a combined sixty-three federal subsistence hunt permits for Game Management Unit (GMU) 13, located south of Delta Junction, Alaska, by falsely certifying to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that he and his wife were “rural residents” of Delta Junction. In truth, the defendant knew that he and his wife were residents of North Pole and thus did not qualify as rural residents eligible to obtain federal subsistence hunt permits. The defendant and his wife took and transported a combined 23 caribou and one moose in violation of the Lacey Act and other federal regulations.

In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which protects the subsistence needs of rural Alaskans. The Federal Subsistence Management Program is a multi-agency effort to provide the opportunity for a subsistence way of life by rural Alaskans on federal public lands and waters while maintaining healthy populations of fish and wildlife. Subsistence fishing and hunting provide a large share of the food consumed in rural Alaska. Nowhere else in the United States is there such a heavy reliance upon wild foods. This dependence on wild resources is cultural, social and economic. Alaska’s indigenous inhabitants have relied upon the traditional harvest of wild foods for thousands of years and have passed this way of life, its culture and values down through generations. Subsistence has also become important to many non-Native Alaskans, particularly in rural Alaska.

In issuing the sentence, Judge Beistline noted the importance of protecting Alaska’s natural resources and “respecting the wildlife in our state.” He also noted the importance of deterring the defendant and others from similar future violations.

The Bureau of Land Management Office of Law Enforcement and Security conducted the investigation following a separate investigation of the Albaughs by the Alaska Wildlife Troopers for Taking of Wildlife Closed Season. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan D. Tansey for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Alaska.



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Topic(s):
Indian Country Law and Justice
Component(s):
USAO - Alaska
Press Release Number:
21-033
Updated April 29, 2021