One of two men charged with illegally taking a walrus on Round Island in May of 2011 was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Thursday of last week.

Sixty M. Arkanakyak was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

The two men, Arkanakyak and his co-defendant ,Jessie Anariak, were indicted in December 2012 for the May 9th incident outside of Togiak.

According to the indictment, the two men left Togiak on May 9th and travelled to Round Island, one of seven islands in a group that are a designated as Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary for walrus in the north Bristol Bay area.

Once they arrived at the island, the two men beached their Lund skiff and approached a herd of walrus that were on the island. Once they determined they were close enough, Arkanakyak and Anariak opened fire oon the herd of walruses using 12 gauge shotguns. During the incident, at least five walrus were wounded. The gunfire caused the herd to stampede and during the stampede four of the wounded walrus followed the rest of the herd into the sea.

One of the wounded walrus failed to escape and the two men corraled the animal against a cliff and shot it in the head until it died.

After shooting the animal, the two men hacked the tusks from the walrus and left the rest of the animal on the beach and returned to Togiak according to Arkanakyak’s admission.

It was earlier this year in February, that Arkanakyak pled guilty to the illegal taking of the walrus. Arkanakyak is also a felon and is banned from possession of a firearm.

Arkanakyak was also charged, pled guilty and was sentenced in state court to three counts of alcohol importation, Discharging a weapon in a game sanctuary, and Misconduct Involving a Weapon. He received 410 days in jail with 240 day suspended. He was also fined $3,000.

Arnariak received 610 day with 270 suspended and a $7,500 fine and forfiieture of all items.

The federal case is still pending for Arkanakyak’s co-defendant Jessie Arnariak.

Related Article

State Case on Round Island Sanctuary Concludes with Guilty Pleas from Jessie Arnariak