Three South-Central man pled guilty and were sentenced for the violating the Lacey act in the illegal hunting, take and transport of two bull Moose, shot in the Denali National Park in September of 2012 it was announced by US Atty. Karen L. Loeffler on Monday.

Anchorage residents, Charlie W Hart, age 55, and Deric C Hart, age 33, pled guilty to the illegal taking and transportation of the bull Moose within the Denali National Park on Monday. Homer resident Michael J Barth pled guilty on Friday.

All three men were sentenced before United States magistrate Judge Deborah M Smith on Monday. Each man received two years probation, and must pay $15,000 in restitution to the Denali National Park for the illegally taken moose. They were also fined $2500, and cannot hunt for a period of one year. The moose antlers, and moose meat as well as the firearm used in the illegal taking of the moose were forfeited.

According to Steven Skrocki, the Assistant District Attorney, Charles Hart, using a third-party, requested permission to hunt on a private in-holding of land in the Kantishna area of the Denali National Park. That third-party contacted the landowner, who subsequently granted permission under the condition that the hunting party only take one bull Moose and that the hunt took place within the confines of the private in-holding.

Charlie and Deric Hart admitted in court that they had traveled on the Denali National Park Road to the Kantishna area with James Riggs as well as another individual after obtaining the appropriate Denali Park Road permits in September. during that time all members of the hunting party hunted for bull Moose outside the confines of the in-holding and on Denali National Park property. They also admitted to using illegal electronic moose cow calls during the hunt. Electronic cow calls are illegal under Alaska state law and cannot be used for hunting moose.

It was found that on September 3, 2012, Deric Hart and Michael Barth and one other individual conducted a hunt outside of the in-holding area, at which time they spotted a bull moose a short distance outside of the property boundary. Deric Hart shot and killed that moose, then the hunting party, using an ATV, drug the dead animal into the in-holding area at which time the moose was field dressed and the antlers were removed from the skull. Those antlers measured approximately 64 inches.

Then, two days later, on September 5, 2012, Michael Barth and Deric Hart conducted another moose hunt on Denali National Park property, despite their agreement to hunt only one bull Moose and to remain within the in-holding while doing so. In court, as a part of his plea deal, Michael Barth admitted that he had been stalking moose on Denali National Park property. He also told the court that his co-defendant James Riggs shot and killed a moose and allowed Barth to tag the moose in an effort to make it seem as if Barth had shot and killed it.

After killing the second moose, the hunting party again used an ATV as well as a Utility Task Vehicle in an area closed to off-road vehicles to drag the moose from that location, where it was shot and killed, to a location approximately a half mile back to the in-holding property. Once dragged to that location, the moose was field dressed. The antlers on that second moose measured approximately 65 inches.

The following day, the moose meat and antlers of the two illegally killed moose was loaded into vehicles and the hunting party began their trip back to Anchorage. On the way out of the park the National Park Service stopped and questioned the hunting party. During that questioning, the hunting party lied to the park ranger about the location, as well as other details of the kills.

The final co-defendant in the case, James Riggs, is scheduled to appear in court on January 6, 2014.