A pair of Washington state men face numerous charges stemming from a big game hunt last fall that the Alaska State Troopers say was illegal.

Joseph Querin, 53, and Carson Kemmer , 24, both of Ocean Park, are charged with 43 wildlife-related crimes, including unlawful possession of big game, unsworn falsification, wanton waste of big game, nonresident taking big game without a guide, illegal take of sub-legal sheep and moose, unlawful transfer of harvest tickets and hunting without a license.

According to a statement from troopers, the men came under investigation after a tip came from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Querin and Kemmer had spent Aug. 29, 2006, though Sept. 16, 2006, in Alaska hunting caribou, moose, sheep and brown bear.

Troopers believe Querin illegally obtained an Alaska resident hunting license along with four tags. He reportedly shared the tags with Kemmer.

During the hunting trip, Kemmer killed a caribou, sheep and brown bear along the Dalton Highway and shot a sub-legal bull moose near Turnagain Arm outside Anchorage. Querin shot a sub-legal sheep during the hunting trip, the trooper statement said.

A search warrant at Kemmer's home turned up a brown bear skull and hide, along with sheep horns, according to troopers.

State Police Report:  10/17/07:  Location: Anchorage Case Number: 06-98560
Type: Taking big game without tag, taking big game without a license, take Dall sheep and brown bear without a guide and failure to salvage all edible meat of big game animals.

Text: On 10/12/07 Carson Kemmer, 24 years of age of Ocean Park, WA, pleaded no contest to two counts of taking brown bear and Dall sheep without a guide, two counts of taking big game without a tag, one count of failure to salvage the edible meat of a big game animal and one count of hunting without a license.

On 1/19/07 The Alaska Bureau of Investigation Wildlife Investigations Unit along with the State Attorney General's office of Special Prosecutions, filed charges against Carson Kemmer, 24 years of age of Ocean Park, WA and Joseph Querin, 53 years of age of Ocean Park, WA for 43 wildlife related crimes. Charges included unlawful possession of big game, unsworn falsification, wanton waste, nonresidents taking big game without a guide, illegal take of sub-legal sheep and moose, unlawful transfer of harvest tickets and hunting without a license.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers Investigators received a tip from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife that Joseph Querin, 53 years of age of Ocean Park, WA, had hunted big game in Alaska and may have engaged in illegal activity. Investigation revealed that between 8/29/06 through 9/16/06, Querin and Kemmer traveled to Alaska to hunt Caribou, Moose, Sheep and Brown Bear. Querin, a Washington resident, illegally obtained an Alaska resident hunting license and the 4 tags needed, and then unlawfully transferred the tags to Kemmer who never
obtained an Alaska hunting license. Kemmer hunted and killed a caribou, sheep and brown bear along the Dalton Highway in the Brooks Range. In addition, investigation found that Kemmer shot a sub-legal bull moose near the area of Turnagain Arm and that Querin also shot a second sub-legal sheep without a tag in the Brooks Range. Investigation also revealed that Querin and Kemmer failed to salvage all the edible meat of the Caribou, both Dall sheep and the Moose.

Alaska law requires that nonresident hunters need to be accompanied by a guide or relative within the second degree of kindred in order to take Brown Bear, Sheep and Mountain Goat. Neither Querin nor Kemmer were
accompanied by a guide or family member meeting these requirements. Alaska law also requires that hunters salvage all edible meet from specified big game animals.

On 12/11/06 Washington State Wildlife Officers in conjunction with the Alaska Wildlife Troopers Wildlife Investigations Unit (WIU) served a search warrant at Kemmer's residence in Ocean Park, WA. A Brown Bear
hide and skull were recovered from an animal taken in Alaska. Also recovered were the horns of a Mountain Big Horn sheep unlawfully taken in the State of Washington. The following day a search warrant was served in conjunction with Oregon State Police at a taxidermy shop near Seaside, Oregon, where a set of Dall Sheep horns and hide, taken in Alaska, were seized.

As part of the plea agreement Kemmer is sentenced to 440 days in jail, a $50,000 fine, $5,885 for restitution to the state for the animals and probation for 5 years. The 440 days of jail and $27,500 of the fines are suspended pending no violations of Alaska wildlife laws for the duration of the probation. Kemmer will pay $22,500 in fines and the $5,885 for restitution and forfeit all meat, hides, horns and skulls of the illegally harvested animals.

Querin failed to appear at his arraignment on charges of unsworn falsification, unlawful taking of a sub legal sheep, taking a sheep without a guide and failure to salvage the edible meat of a big game animal. A $10,000 warrant has been issued for Querin who remains in Washington.

Update 10/18/07:  One Washington state man has been fined more than $22,000 and Alaska Wildlife Troopers have an arrest warrant for another man after a hunt last fall in which they illegally killed brown bear, caribou, moose and Dall sheep, troopers said.

"This is actually a very serious case," trooper investigator Robert Welch said. "It was a clear and deliberate attempt to go after multiple animals illegally."

Carson Kemmer , 24, pleaded no contest to two counts of taking brown bear and Dall sheep without a guide, two counts of taking big game without a tag, one count of failure to salvage the edible meat of a big game animal and one count of hunting without a license. He was originally charged with 22 hunting violations.

Troopers are looking for Kemmer's hunting companion, 53-year-old Joseph Querin, who faces 21 charges and failed to appear for his arraignment. A $10,000 warrant has been issued for his arrest.  Both men are from Ocean Park, Wash.

The investigation began when troopers received a tip from Washington fish and game officials that Querin may have been conducting illegal hunts in Alaska.

Troopers say the men were in Alaska to hunt big game between Aug. 29 and Sept. 16, 2006. Querin illegally obtained an Alaska resident hunting license and four tags, then transferred the tags to Kemmer, troopers said.

"People from out of state tend to feel a little intimidated by the regulations," Welch said. "That's not the case in this. (Querin) had lived in Alaska. He was very familiar with the regulations."

Kemmer, who didn't have a license, killed a caribou, sheep and brown bear along the Dalton Highway in the Brooks Range. He also shot a sub-legal bull moose near Turnagain Arm, troopers said.

Querin shot a second sub--legal sheep in the Brooks Range and did not have a tag for it, troopers said.

"He shot the animals for the experience of it but had no way to get it back to Washington," Welch said. "All the animals had some meat removed, but regulations require that they salvage all the edible meat."

By Alaska law, nonresident hunters must be accompanied by a guide or by a close relative who is an Alaska resident to take brown bear, sheep and goats. Neither man met those requirements, Welch said.

Washington wildlife officials serving a search warrant at Kemmer's home on Dec. 11, 2006, found an Alaska brown bear's hide and skull, along with the horns of a big-horn sheep that had been illegally killed in Washington, the Alaska troopers said in a written statement.

The following day, a search warrant served at a taxidermy shop in Oregon turned up an illegally hunted Dall sheep's horns and hide, troopers said.

As part of his plea agreement, Kemmer was sentenced to 440 days in prison, fined $50,000 and ordered to pay nearly $6,000 in restitution. The prison time and $27,500 of the fines were suspended but can be re-imposed if Kemmer violates Alaska wildlife laws during a five-year probation period.

Querin is wanted on charges including unlawful possession of big game, unsworn falsification, nonresident hunting without a guide, and multiple license and tag violations.

Update 10/24/07:  Washington State Patrol officers discovered Joseph Querin, 53, in the Pacific County Jail, where he had been incarcerated earlier this month on several other charges, including possessing methamphetamine.

Querin has been sought by Alaska troopers on a $10,000 arrest warrant since April, when he failed to appear at his arraignment on charges including unlawful possession of big game, being a nonresident hunting without a guide, and multiple license and tag violations.

Alaska troopers sent a warrant to Washington law enforcement authorities and Querin was served with it in jail, said troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.

Kemmer pleaded no contest Oct. 12 to six violations; prosecutors agreed to drop another 16 charges.

"As far as noncommercial violations go, it's one of the more serious instances I've seen," troopers investigator Robert Welch said. "It ranks up there because of the deliberate nature."

Querin has been in jail since Oct. 4, when Washington authorities stopped his vehicle because he did not have a seat belt on, said Lt. Steve Smeland of the Washington State Patrol.

The arresting officer discovered Querin was driving with a suspended driver's license and didn't have auto insurance, Smeland said. He was also wanted on another misdemeanor warrant. And patrol officers found methamphetamine in the vehicle, Smeland said.  "It looks like it might have been a trace amount, like in a pipe or something, but there was meth and it's still illegal," Smeland said.

Authorities will now have to work out how the charges in both states will be handled and whether Querin will be extradited to Alaska, Peters said.

As part of Kemmer's plea agreement, an Alaska judge sentenced him to 440 days in prison, fined him $50,000 and ordered him to pay nearly $6,000 in restitution. The prison time and $27,500 of the fines were suspended but can be re-imposed if Kemmer violates Alaska wildlife laws during a five-year probation period.

"When you see a case like this, all the people in the state are affected," Welch said. "These animals are resources of the state of Alaska. You don't just have to be a hunter to be affected by this."

Update 3/13/08:  The second of two Washington state men accused of a wildlife poaching tour that left carcasses across Alaska pleaded guilty to five criminal counts that will net him a year in prison, according to the state Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals.

Joseph Querin, 54, was initially charged with 21 game violations stemming from the 2006 hunt that he illegally planned and guided for his friend, Carson Kemmer , 25, according to prosecutors.

"It's unbelievable the number of animals they killed in a 10-day period," said assistant attorney general Andrew Peterson. "They had the illegal hunting trip of a lifetime."

The men were accused of illegally killing, then wasting, the meat of two sub-legal Dall sheep, a sub-legal moose, a brown bear and a caribou during a trip to Alaska between late August and early September 2006, according to charging documents filed in court.

Shortly afterward, wildlife investigators, following up on a tip from their Washington state counterparts, discovered that Querin, an Ocean Park, Wash., resident, had illegally purchased an Alaska resident hunting license and big-game tags, while Kemmer had no Alaska license or tags at all.

Prosecutors say Kemmer was the trigger man for most of the kills, shooting four of the five animals in the Brooks Range along the Dalton Highway and near Turnagain Arm. Querin killed one animal, the second sub-legal sheep, according to prosecutors.

"For most of the animals themselves, Kemmer was the one who pulled the trigger, but what we knew was that Querin facilitated every single one of them being killed," wildlife troopers investigator Robert Welch said. "(Kemmer) desperately did not want to go to jail and so he was willing to work with the prosecution."

In October, Kemmer struck a plea deal -- reducing the 22 charges against him to six -- and agreed to testify against Querin in exchange for suspended jail time and a fine of $22,500 to pay, with another $5,885 in restitution due to the state.

Washington authorities arrested Querin on unrelated charges in October after the Washington State Patrol stopped his vehicle because he wasn't wearing a seat belt. They discovered he had a small amount of methamphetamine and was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant, according to the patrol.

Querin made bail but then skipped out on his court date, leading a Washington judge to issue a warrant for his arrest, Peterson said. Despite being wanted in Alaska as well, he fled to his brother's Wasilla home, where Alaska state troopers arrested him in January. He's been in custody since.

Querin pleaded guilty to five counts as part of his deal, including lying to get the resident license and tags, illegally possessing game and permitting violations. District Judge Brian Clark sentenced him to serve one year in prison, with nearly three more suspended.

"Significant fines and jail are really essential in cases like this to help wildlife troopers do their job," Peterson said. "Alaska is so remote, there's no way they can catch everyone. It acts as a deterrent."

Querin was also ordered to serve four years of probation and to pay a $4,000 fine. He lost his hunting privileges for four years.

At some point while Querin is serving his time, Washington will likely "borrow" him to face a judge on charges against him there, he said.

Reference:

Juneau Empire

Anchorage Daily News

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Alaska State Troopers

Alaska's Attorney Generals Office