A Haines hunting guide faces $40,000 in fines and permanent revocation of professional guiding privileges after agreeing to plead guilty to federal and state charges.
Ron Martin, 71, signed a 56-page plea agreement with federal attorneys May 1, the same day five felony counts were filed.
The charges involve allegations of illegal wildlife trafficking and falsification of hunting records in Canada and Alaska.
Martin faces additional misdemeanor charges brought by the state of Alaska.
According to court documents, a May 2010 joint investigation involving Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revealed Ron Martin’s Guiding Services was conducting illegal guided hunts of big game in Haines.
The investigation found that between 2002 and 2011, Martin and numerous clients illegally took at least 10 brown bears, three black bears and four mountain goats, with the hunts valued between $135,000 and $189,000.
Martin also allegedly submitted erroneous bear-sealing certificates and guide hunting records to the state, which falsely reported the locations of where bears were killed during guided hunts,