Montana man fined for offense on Alaska hunt with Wade Boggs

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) A Montana man has been ordered to pay a $3,000 fine after pleading guilty to federal wildlife violations while leading former Boston Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs on a 2009 sheep hunt in Alaska.

Tuesday's plea agreement by Jason Kummerfeldt, 45, of Billings, Montana, completed the 16th and final case against employees and clients of a now-closed Anchorage guiding business, Fair Chase Hunts, authorities said. Kummerfeldt also was ordered not to hunt or accompany hunters for six months.

Kummerfeldt was an assistant guide when he took Boggs on a hunt in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in August 2009, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported (http://is.gd/3KkW90 ).

The main objective in Boggs' hunt was Dall sheep, but he also voiced interest in shooting a bull caribou, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Cooper.

Kummerfeldt and the main guide, Christopher Cassidy, incorrectly assured Boggs he didn't need to buy a nonresident caribou tag until after he successfully shot an animal, authorities said. After the hunt, Cassidy sold Boggs the tag, authorities said.

Boggs wrote a personal check to Cassidy with the correct date on it, and Cassidy backdated the tag to a date before the hunt, authorities said.

Boggs was not charged.

Cassidy was among those who pleaded guilty earlier. Defendants also included Joe Hendricks, the owner of Fair Chase Hunts and a master guide who died in November. Hendricks was sentenced in 2012 to five years of probation and a $125,000 fine.

Altogether, fines have totaled $273,000 for at least 116 documented violations of laws, including the Lacey Act, which combats illegal trafficking in wildlife, plants and the like. Two grizzly bears, four Dall sheep, one caribou and one rifle have been forfeited, prosecutors said.

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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com