# Man acknowledges guilt in outfitting case



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Story available at http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles ... fitter.txt

Published on Wednesday, August 27, 2008.
Last modified on 8/27/2008 at 12:46 am

*Man acknowledges guilt in outfitting case*
By BRETT FRENCH
Of The Gazette Staff

A South Carolina man pleaded guilty Monday to a felony and seven misdemeanors and no contest to two other misdemeanors in an illegal outfitting operation in Sweet Grass County that was busted by state investigators in November.

Tyler C. South, 34, entered his plea by video in Livingston in front of Judge Nels Swandal. Park County shares the 6th Judicial District with Sweet Grass County. In return for the plea, the state attorney general's office agreed to drop eight other charges against South. A sentencing date has not been set.

"It's pretty much what we expect," said Jim Kropp, chief of law enforcement for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

"There's more to the story than meets the eye," said Billings attorney Brad Arndorfer, who is representing South. "He was a pawn in this, although he did have some culpability."

South pleaded guilty to unlawful possession or transportation of game animals, a felony. South unlawfully killed one 6x6 bull elk, one whitetail doe and two buck mule deer last fall, according to court documents.

The misdemeanor charges included three counts of waste of game, four counts of unlawful attachment or transfer of a license, making false statements on a license and hunting without a license.

The counts included the waste of the bull elk and two buck mule deer when the carcasses soured after being improperly cared for, tagging a whitetail doe he shot with a tag possessed by his employer, attaching his tag to a whitetail doe killed by his employer, three instances where he attached one client's tag to a buck mule deer killed by another client, abandoning a hen turkey that was shot and killing a buck mule deer before receiving a valid license.

Prophetically, South was said to have told one hunter that his boss, Dean Langton, was going to get everyone in trouble for having licenses in other people's names on deer shot by someone else.

South also illegally received a Montana resident driver's and hunting licenses in 2007, the same year he was still hunting as a resident in Florida, according to court documents. Montana law requires a person to sign a statement declaring that he or she has resided in the state for 180 consecutive days to receive resident hunting and fishing licenses.

At the same time South had a driver's license in Montana, he also was licensed to drive in Florida and Indiana.

The maximum sentence for the felony charge is a prison term of five years and a fine of $50,000 in addition to losing all hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for five years to life.

The dismissed charges included a felony charge of accountability for outfitting without a license and unlawful possession or transportation of game animals and four misdemeanor counts of accountability for hunting without a license and two misdemeanor counts of unlawful attachment or transfer of a license.

Under the plea agreement, South must pay restitution of $8,800 and would lose his hunting and fishing privileges for four years for the felony charge. The agreement calls for fines of $585 and a suspended six-month jail sentence for the misdemeanor counts.

Catherine Truman, the assistant attorney for the state who is prosecuting the case, said she was fine with the agreement.

Arndorfer said, "One of the worst penalties to my client is losing his hunting privileges for four years."

Under the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, 28 states honor wildlife sentences imposed by member states.

The charges against South followed an undercover investigation by Fish, Wildlife and Parks into PanAngling/PanHunting, a Florida-based adventure travel company owned by Langton. Langton co-owns 400 acres at 489 Lower Deer Creek Road in Sweet Grass County, where some of the violations occurred. Langton also leased a few surrounding ranches for his operation.

Neither Langton nor South was licensed to outfit or guide in Montana, although Arndorfer said Langton indicated to South that he was licensed in the state and had South fill out paperwork.

Langton also was charged in the case. He has pleaded not guilty to four felony counts and 14 misdemeanor counts. His case has been set for trial on Nov. 12 in Big Timber. Arndorfer said South would "gladly" testify against Langton.

The investigation began in September 2006. But it wasn't until two undercover wardens booked an archery deer hunt for October and a rifle deer hunt in November that the extent of the operation was revealed. The wardens paid $5,500 total for the eight- and five-day trips, which included food, lodging and guide services.

In an affidavit, South is quoted as telling the undercover officers, "We just cater to whatever you guys want to do. We buy everything, and the land usually got everything. Whatever you guys want to do is what we do."

Contact Brett French at [email protected] or at 657-1387.


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