A North Pole resident who falsely obtained federal subsistence hunt permits, killing 23 caribou and one moose in violation of the Lacey Act over a period of several years, has been fined and sentenced to 30 months of federal probation.
U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline handed down the sentence in Fairbanks on April 28 against Robert J. Albaugh, 58. Albaugh was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, and is prohibited from hunting, fishing or trapping anywhere in the world during the probation period.
According to the plea agreement, Albaugh and his wife applied for and received a combined 63 federal subsistence hunt permits between 2002-2018 for Game Management Unit 13, south of Delta Junction, by falsely certifying to the Bureau of Land Management that they were “rural residents” of Delta Junction.
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 protects the subsistence needs of rural Alaskans. The Federal Subsistence Management Program is a multi-agency effort to provide subsistence opportunities for rural Alaskans on federal public lands and waters while assuring sustainability of fish and wildlife, which are of significant cultural, social and economic importance.
In handing down the sentence, Beistline noted the importance of protecting the state’s natural resources and “respecting the wildlife in our state.”
The investigation was conducted by the BLM’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security following a separate investigation of the Albaughs by Alaska Wildlife Troopers for taking wildlife during a closed season.
