St. Mary’s Man Gets 3 Years for Illegal Alaska Wildlife Guiding Scheme

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A man from St. Mary’s was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $64,000 in restitution for running an illegal wildlife guiding operation that generated thousands of dollars in fraudulent proceeds.

The defendant, identified in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska announcement, conducted guiding services without required state or federal permits. He collected payments from clients for hunts that violated wildlife regulations, according to the Department of Justice release dated May 15, 2026. The sentence was imposed in federal district court in Anchorage the previous week.

The restitution covers losses tied directly to the scheme. Federal sentencing guidelines required the court to calculate economic harm to affected parties, including state wildlife management programs that lost licensing revenue and clients who paid for services later deemed unlawful.

The three-year term reflects the combination of unlicensed commercial activity and the fraudulent collection of funds.

The conviction shifts the defendant from active operation of the guiding business to federal custody, with restitution payments now due under standard Department of Justice collection procedures. Federal probation officers will supervise any post-release period, and the case adds to the enforcement record against unauthorized commercial use of Alaska’s wildlife resources.

Agencies responsible for issuing hunting and guiding permits face no direct operational change but gain a documented precedent for future licensing denials involving prior convictions.

This marks the latest federal prosecution targeting illegal guiding in Alaska. The Department of Justice has pursued similar cases involving false statements on permit applications and unlicensed commercial hunts on federal and state-managed lands. The original charges in this matter stemmed from investigations by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Alaska wildlife enforcement officers.