# Gov. Rounds' brother among people investigated by Prieksat



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Gov. Rounds' brother among people investigated by Prieksat 
By KEVIN WOSTER Rapid City Journal 
The Associated Press - Monday, June 04, 2007

RAPID CITY, S.D.

A week before Gov. Mike Rounds targeted federal game warden Bob Prieksat for removal from his job, Prieksat was investigating a case of illegal waterfowl processing that involved one of the governor's brothers.

Tom Rounds, a banker in Pierre, was not charged in the case that Prieksat opened in early February. But Rounds was on a list of at least 15 people - including an agent for the state Division of Criminal Investigation, a former state Game, Fish & Parks Department licensing supervisor and the son of the current GF&P assistant wildlife director - who had geese processed by Jim Suedkamp of rural Pierre.

About a week after Prieksat and GF&P conservation officer John Murphy finished the initial stage of the Suedkamp investigation in early February, Rounds went public - through chief of staff Rob Skjonsberg - with his campaign demanding that FWS officials fire Prieksat or reassign him to another state.

Skjonsberg also ordered GF&P conservation officers to stop working with Prieksat, except in special instances approved by GF&P Secretary Jeff Vonk.

Gov. Rounds confirmed Friday that his brother was among those investigated by Prieksat in connection with the Suedkamp case. But Rounds said he wasn't aware of the investigation until weeks after Skjonsberg went public against Prieksat.

Asked Friday whether he was motivated by the Suedkamp case to take action against the agent, Rounds said: "Absolutely not. I did not know anything about it, but I'm sure someone would like to suggest that I did."

Many rumors have circulated in the Pierre hunting community since the sequence of events in February. Neither Prieksat nor his supervisor, Gary Mowad of Lakewood, Colo., would comment for this story. The Journal constructed many of the facts of the case through off-the-record interviews with knowledgeable sources and confirmations from people involved.

Suedkamp eventually paid a $425 fine for illegally receiving untagged waterfowl.

Al Jockheck, former licensing supervisor for GF&P and currently part-time employee there, wouldn't comment Friday on the case in general. But he confirmed that he also paid $425 for leaving untagged waterfowl with Suedkamp.

Others, including Tom Rounds, who had waterfowl processed in a similar manner, were not charged. The list included Chad Mosteller of Pierre, a DCI agent and son of Col. Dan Mosteller, head of the South Dakota Highway Patrol; Andy Vandel, son of GF&P assistant wildlife director George Vandel of Pierre; and Mike Jockheck, Al Jockheck's son.

Suedkamp didn't return a telephone call left Friday at his home. Chad Mosteller didn't return a call left with a co-worker at DCI. George Vandel said he wasn't involved in the Suedkamp case and did not intervene with the governor or Skjonsberg in any way.

When Skjonsberg went public with the case against Prieksat, he accused the agent of bullying tactics that angered members of the public and tainted the image of GF&P conservation officers. Skjonsberg said then that his action came from a history of abuse by Prieksat, not a particular case.

Rounds said Friday he wasn't aware of the Suedkamp case until he was asked by the Journal during a March 1 interview whether he or any members of his family had been involved in law-enforcement issues with Prieksat. Rounds said at that time he wasn't personally and wasn't aware of any such cases with his family.

The governor said Friday that he raised that question with his brother sometime after the March 1 interview and that Tom Rounds confirmed he had been investigated in the Suedkamp case but had not been charged.

"That was the only conversation I had with my brother on that particular issue," the governor said. "And I let it go at that. Because I figured if I was going to fight this thing, I'd keep it at arms' length as much as possible."

When asked when his chief of staff learned of the Suedkamp investigation involving Tom Rounds, the governor referred the question to Skjonsberg. At 6 p.m. Friday, Skjonsberg hadn't replied to two Journal e-mail inquiries on that point.

During the March 1 interview with the Journal, Rounds also said that he thought he had met Prieksat but wasn't sure if he "could pick him out on the street."

Friday, however, the governor said he had recently been reminded by his wife, Jean, that they had lived in the same neighborhood as Prieksat for a number of years.

"She said, 'I think you know him. He and his wife lived four or five doors around the corner,'" Rounds said. "And I said: 'Oh, my gosh, I know the face. I now put the face with the name. I've also seen him at the Y. I've just never had a run-in with him with a uniform on.

"Without a uniform, he's a very nice person," Rounds said. "Clearly, with the uniform, there's a change in personalities that doesn't fit the person without the uniform."

Prieksat doesn't wear a uniform while on duty, but he has still become a recognizable presence known in South Dakota's hunting community for his hard-nosed law-enforcement style. A former GF&P conservation officer who was honored as the agency's best in 1985, Prieksat has been with the FWS in Pierre since 1995.

In recent years, he has been involved in a number of high-profile wildlife cases. They include a 2003 investigation of then-GF&P Secretary John Cooper - Prieksat's former mentor and predecessor as FWS law-enforcement supervisory agent in Pierre - for a Black Hills elk hunt that October.

The South Dakota U.S attorney's office decided not to file charges in that case. But in January of 2004, Skjonsberg, Rounds and Cooper took their complaints to Mowad, who has called Prieksat one of his top agents. Cooper had been angered by the investigation and, during an interview with another FWS agent, threatened to end GF&P involvement with Prieksat and limit law-enforcement work with the FWS.

Rounds said, however, that Cooper didn't ask him or Skjonsberg to take action against Prieksat and that their meeting was about many past complaints.

After the meeting in 2004, there was little communication between the governor's office and Mowad until Rounds authorized Skjonsberg to go public against Prieksat last February. Rounds said he had become increasingly troubled by the number of complaints about Prieksat and his negative impact on GF&P officers.

Pierre guide and wild-game processor Caleb Gilkerson joined the anti-Prieksat chorus in February, saying he was mistreated during a December investigation in which the federal agent was also assisted by GF&P officer John Murphy.

Gilkerson contested the charges of possessing untagged geese but was found guilty by a federal magistrate in Pierre after a March 22 trial.

After his first public statements against Prieksat, Skjonsberg solicited comments and complaints about the agent. That produced more than 60 signed complaints and 700 signatures supporting his removal.

Rounds said that was an example of the widespread unhappiness with Prieksat that led him to act.

"There is not a single case which stands out," the governor said. "It is a preponderance of the evidence that we have a bad apple. And there's a whole bunch of other people getting bad reputations because of that bad apple."


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## tb (Jul 26, 2002)

"The governor doth protest too much, methinks."

--From Hamlet (III, ii, 239)

Now we know why. Thanks Bob, I've been following that story, kind of always wondered what the fuss was about. If you are not doing anything wrong, there's nothing to worry about, right?


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

> Gov. Rounds confirmed Friday that his brother was among those investigated by Prieksat in connection with the Suedkamp case. But Rounds said he wasn't aware of the investigation until weeks after Skjonsberg went public against Prieksat.


I find that hard to believe, but it could be the case.



> During the March 1 interview with the Journal, Rounds also said that he thought he had met Prieksat but wasn't sure if he "could pick him out on the street."
> 
> Friday, however, the governor said he had recently been reminded by his wife, Jean, that they had lived in the same neighborhood as Prieksat for a number of years.
> 
> "She said, 'I think you know him. He and his wife lived four or five doors around the corner,'" Rounds said. "And I said: 'Oh, my gosh, I know the face. I now put the face with the name. I've also seen him at the Y. I've just never had a run-in with him with a uniform on.


Sounds like he knew him and is now back-tracking a bit. This is all beginning to look a bit fishy.

I wonder if this warden was deterring too many out of area hunters by actually enforcing laws...which means less $ for the locals. I'd really like to know the truth in this case...


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## 280IM (Mar 28, 2005)

It is a preponderance of the evidence that we have a bad apple. And there's a whole bunch of other people getting bad reputations because of that bad apple."

280 asking
Who is the bad apple?


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## Mr. Lee (Oct 12, 2002)

> Prieksat Cleared Of Misconduct
> 
> 67
> Posts
> ...


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## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

I have had a couple of dealings with this officer, and while, not the most pleasant person, and maybe even over zealous about certain things, he did not write us a ticket on any occasion.

He did one time upset my father, *****ing about the size of shot he was shooting, which happened to be F shot, although we usually shoot T's or BBB's for pass shooting geese, he had got a deal on some 10 gauge shells, and basically bought them for the hulls. Anyway, he goes into his spew about F's being the most cripling shot and how they should be outlawed. Well my father showed him his two empties and two geese, and that was the end of it.

Gov Rounds on the other hand, he is a mass abuser of nepotism throughout state government, putting his buddies in places of power where they have no business being. I have no doubt he had all this info mentioned above before pushing for prieksats removal.


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## MOB (Mar 10, 2005)

Let's not take the focus away from the problem, it's the federal warden who is the problem, not the governor. Governor Rounds had the guts to stand up to the feds and demand his removal. It looks like the feds don't know what to do with him, so they want to leave him where he is. Most of the SD hunters who have had to put up with his abusive tactics and attitude would rather see him somewhere else, Grand Forks maybe. Then maybe some ND hunters would know first hand about his demeanor and not agree with some biased news report blaming the Governor.
I believe the real problem is the difficultly removing a state or federal warden from their position. We had a similar problem in Harding County, SD with a state warden named Brian Meyers. He was a major part of the "landowner lockout" problem we had in western SD. He finally went a little too far with his "little man syndrome" attitude and got "promoted" to a desk job in Rapid City. I guess you have to really screw up badly to get fired from a cushy state or federal job. If you're a total assh--- or a burr under everyone's saddle they either make excuses for you or put the blame elsewhere.
BTW We finally got back on some prime private antelope ground in Harding county last year after being locked out for many seasons. The landowners and ranchers out West are sure glad to be rid of their abusive problem warden.


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