3 men heavily fined for their roles in Colorado poaching case

Three men are facing fines after pleading guilty to poaching charges imposed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The hunting violations took place over the course of several years in Jefferson County and Adams County. CPW shared some of the the details of their investigation in a news release on Wednesday. Jeffrey Flaherty, 58, his son Andrew Flaherty, 27, and another man named Kenneth Curtis, 75, all face thousands of dollars in fines.

A CPW officer began the investigation three years ago and obtained a warrant to place trail cameras around private property in Conifer owned by the Flaherty family. Those cameras captured images showing the men putting out hay and other feed to bait animals to the area, which is illegal. It also showed images of the men "harvesting a mule deer near the bait," according to CPW's news release.

"Baiting wildlife does not follow the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. It does not allow an animal the fair chase and lawful opportunity they deserve," CPW Area Wildlife Manager Mark Lamb said in a prepared statement.

Curtis lives near the Flaherty property and told investigators he and Jeffrey Flaherty spoke about trying to attract a bear to their property using pumpkins and parts of an elk carcass. He wound up pleading guilty to several charges including baiting bears and illegally hunting wildlife with bait. It appears Curtis never actually killed a bear.

While Curtis paid a fine of approximately $1,600, the Flaherty father and son face much larger fines. Andrew Flaherty pleaded guilty to hunting out of season, hunting bull elk with bait and illegal possession of wildlife and he faces a fine of approximately $3,600.

His father faces nearly $43,000 in fines. Last month Jeffrey agreed to plead guilty to 13 different misdemeanors. They include:

- illegally possessing big game
- baiting wildlife
- hunting elk out of season
- making false statements about Colorado residency on license applications.

Some of the men will lose hunting privileges in Colorado for various lengths of time as part of their punishments.

"These defendants took deliberate actions to break dozens of laws with a complete disregard for the wildlife of the state," said Scott Murdoch, a CPW officer who investigated the case. "They were poachers, not hunters. ... Hunters are those who act morally and legally when out in the field. Poachers are folks who actively take advantage of the laws and wildlife resources when in the field."

As part of Murdoch's investigation, he found out that Jeffrey Flaherty had paid for Colorado resident hunting licenses but he had an out-of-state driver's license, had several cars registered to him in a different state and voted in a different state than Colorado.

Murdoch said in the news released that residents of Colorado "are entitled to certain privileges when it comes to hunting and fishing."

"License fees are less expensive for residents than non-residents, and it's easier to obtain a hunting license as a resident. These factors contribute occasionally to non-residents making the conscious choice to lie about their residency status and game the system," he said.