DENVER — Three men were collectively fined more than $48,000 for multiple hunting and wildlife violations in Jefferson and Adams counties, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Wednesday.
The agency said the punishments conclude a poaching investigation that spanned three years and several states.
As part of a settlement, Jeffrey Flaherty, 58, pleaded guilty to 12 misdemeanors, including illegal possession of big game, baiting wildlife, hunting elk out of season and making false statements about Colorado residency on license applications, according to CPW. As punishment, he was fined $42,787.22 and sentenced to 2-years supervised probation, which restricts his ability to hunt and fish in the state.
CPW said Flaherty will undergo a separate suspension hearing, where he faces a mandatory 5-year license suspension that extends to 48 other states.
Flaherty's son, Andrew Flaherty, 27, was fined $3,646.19. He pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors — illegal possession of wildlife, hunting bull elk with bait and hunting out of season.
Andrew also faces a suspension hearing, where his license could be suspended for up to five years, according to CPW.
The third person, Kenneth Curtis, 75, was fined $1,646.50. He pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors — baiting bears, illegally hunting wildlife and failing to wear daylight fluorescent orange while hunting. CPW said his hunting and fishing privileges were suspended for one year.
According to CPW, as part of the deal with Jeffrey Flaherty, additional charges against two other family members were dismissed.
“These defendants took deliberate actions to break dozens of laws with a complete disregard for the wildlife of the state; they were poachers, not hunters,” said CPW Officer Scott Murdoch, the lead investigator in the case, in a statement. “Hunters are those who act morally and legally when out in the field. Poachers are folks who actively take advantage of the laws and wildlife resources when in the field. ”
CPW said its investigation began in Oct. 2021 when Murdoch reviewed the draw list for Colorado hunting licenses for his district, which includes parts of Jefferson County. Murdoch reportedly noticed multiple members of the Flaherty family on the list, each with the same Richmond Hill Road address in Conifer.
CPW said Jeffrey had Colorado resident hunting licenses for multiple species and some for private lands only, while Andrew had non-resident hunting licenses. According to the agency, Murdoch discovered that Jeffrey had an active Florida driver's license and voted as a Florida resident in the 2020 election. CPW said Jeffery also had six vehicles registered to him at a shipping store in Bradenton, Florida.
The agency obtained a warrant in Nov. 2021 and placed trail cameras around the Flaherty property. According to CPW, the cameras captured Jeffrey setting out hay, alfalfa and corn on several occasions in order to bait wildlife. The cameras also caught Jeffrey and Andrew harvesting a mule deer near the bait, CPW said.
Through another search warrant, CPW obtained text messages from Andrew in which he detailed hunting a bull elk out of season.
Curtis lived nearby and occasionally tended to the Flaherty property. According to CPW, Curtis told officers that he spoke with Jeffrey about using elk innards and pumpkins to attract a black bear. He also reportedly admitted to using game meat to draw bears to the area. CPW did not find evidence that Curtis harvested a bear.
CPW concluded its release by asking anyone with suspicions of illegal hunting activity to contact its Operation Game Thief at 1-800-COLO-OGT.
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