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Game over: Poacher gets probation for 15 years of killing
By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian
Serial poacher Philip Mark Payton, surrounded by some of the illegally killed animals he harvested in Montana over 15 years, demonstrates from the witness stand Wednesday morning in Missoula District Court how he killed one of three moose.
Photo by MICHAEL GALLACHER/Missoulian
One of Montana's most notorious poachers, Philip Mark Payton, once hunted moose and other trophy animals with impunity, but these days the only creature he says he's after is the mouse in his house.
Two years after he was charged, Payton's victims - or rather their skulls, antlers and hides - stared at him mutely from the jury box Wednesday, providing a poignant backdrop in the sentencing of one of the worst cases of illegal killing of big game in decades in the Big Sky state.
Prosecutors sought a lengthy prison term for Payton, who violated virtually every hunting law on the books, but he instead received a large fine and probation and had his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for life.
Officials with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, who investigated the case, said although Payton won't be behind bars, his sentence nonetheless illustrates their crackdown on poaching and sends a message that poachers aren't welcome in one of the premier hunting states in the nation.
During a daylong proceeding in Missoula District Court, two starkly different pictures emerged of Payton, who was convicted of a slew of felonies and misdemeanors for killing moose, elk, deer, antelope, mountain goats and black bear.
Authorities portrayed him as an arrogant, ruthless killer of wildlife, a Texan who came to Montana and left a trail of carnage strewn across the landscape for 15 years, taking the biggest and the best trophy animals and leaving their populations poorer for it.
They said he obsessively chronicled his work in videotape, photos and paperwork, and tried to cover up his crimes by tampering with evidence and witnesses.
Investigators eventually followed that trail of blood and self-incrimination to his doorstep, where his home was packed with mounted heads, horns and hides of illegally taken animals.
A different picture of Payton emerged from the defendant, his attorney, wife and boss, who portrayed him as a gentle, honest family man whose only weapon today is a mouse trap.
They said he was driven not by greed but by a compulsion for which he's now receiving counseling, that he didn't deserve a prison term for a serious mistake for which he has taken responsibility.
He admitted killing the 30 animals he was charged with, but denied investigators' claim of brutality toward his victims.
“I'm a good, responsible hunter,” said Payton, who said he has gotten rid of his rifles, horses and other hunting equipment, “but I don't want anything to do with hunting anymore.”
In the end, Judge John Larson rejected the prosecution's request for a prison term and sentenced Payton to 20 years of probation, including five years of intensive supervision and 1,000 hours of community service.
Payton also must pay $52,744 in fines, restitution and court costs. He also was permanently banned from hunting, fishing and trapping or accompanying anyone in those pursuits in Montana, a prohibition that extends to 25 other states because Montana is part of an interstate wildlife compact.
Payton, 58, who recently moved from Seeley Lake to Corvallis, was sentenced more than three years after FWP started its investigation.
A jury convicted Payton earlier this year of four misdemeanor counts and he later pleaded guilty to seven felonies and four more misdemeanors, all involving illegal outfitting, tampering with witnesses and evidence, license violations and other crimes.
“He took a game animal in every unlawful way he could - at night, over baits, from roads, over limits, using other people's tags, closed seasons, you name it,” said J.D. Douglas, the FWP's lead criminal investigator in the case.
Payton also involved his family and friends in his poaching. Nine have pleaded guilty and received suspended prison sentences, temporary loss of hunting privileges and fines, restitutions and courts costs totaling more than $23,000. One suspect, Dean Hansen, a veterinarian in Frisco, Texas, remains at large.
Testifying at Payton's sentencing, Douglas said the case was unique because of the number of animals, the variety of violations, the long time frame over which they occurred, the number of people involved and the wide range of locations across the state.
The case also was unusual because Payton chronicled his bloodwork with videotape, photos and notes, and later used those materials to try to mislead investigators by attributing the kills to family, friends and fictitious hunting partners.
Douglas said Payton ignored not only the law but hunting ethics and common decency by letting some of the animals suffer before he killed them.
Prosecutors and wardens said Payton's case was worse than the poaching case of Dean and Renita Ruth, a Seeley Lake couple who were sentenced to prison in 2004.
In total, investigators documented 86 animals that Payton and others killed illegally, including 68 killed by Payton since 1990. The five-year statute of limitation had expired on many of the violations by the time investigators arrested Payton in 2005, so he was charged with only 30 violations.
Randy Arnold, one of two FWP game wardens who went undercover to pose as scofflaw hunters, testified that Payton bragged about being an illegal outfitter and that they paid him $4,500 for his services.
Payton, who also was convicted of illegally killing an elk in 1987 in Montana, has consistently downplayed his poaching spree and never taken full responsibility for his actions, said Barbara Harris, the prosecuting attorney.
Payton disputed that during his testimony, saying he had repeatedly apologized and accepted responsibility for poaching the 30 animals, although he still denies he was an outfitter.
In 2004, the last year before investigators caught up with him, Payton illegally shot three bull moose after waiting 25 years for a moose license.
“ ‘Well, there's no one around ... and nobody will ever know the difference,' ” he said, recalling what he thought when he poached the first one. “I was just obsessed with hunting. I just couldn't control myself.”
Payton said he shouldn't go to prison, in part because he needs mental health counseling for an obsession with hunting and medical treatment for prostate cancer.
He said going to prison would prevent him from paying restitution ordered by the court. He said he recently started work as a vacuum cleaner salesman and that he formerly sold insurance and river rafts.
He said he hasn't hunted in nearly three years and no longer wants anything to do with hunting.
“I've started a whole different way of life” with a new wife, new job and new home,” he said, tearfully at times.
During testimony about Payton's character and his ability to pay restitution, Harris, the prosecutor, said he was involved in a financial securities scam three years ago and that he had signed a consent agreement with state auditors in which he surrendered his insurance license. Payton said he had “never stolen a dime” and gave up his license without admitting guilt.
Dale Burke, one of four members of the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association who were in court for the sentencing, expressed disgust when Payton apologized to his “fellow hunters” for his crimes.
“We hunters aren't ‘fellows' of poachers and other criminals,” Burke said. “He should have gotten the maximum time in prison.”
Reporter John Cramer can be reached at 523-5259 or at [email protected].
By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian
Serial poacher Philip Mark Payton, surrounded by some of the illegally killed animals he harvested in Montana over 15 years, demonstrates from the witness stand Wednesday morning in Missoula District Court how he killed one of three moose.
Photo by MICHAEL GALLACHER/Missoulian
One of Montana's most notorious poachers, Philip Mark Payton, once hunted moose and other trophy animals with impunity, but these days the only creature he says he's after is the mouse in his house.
Two years after he was charged, Payton's victims - or rather their skulls, antlers and hides - stared at him mutely from the jury box Wednesday, providing a poignant backdrop in the sentencing of one of the worst cases of illegal killing of big game in decades in the Big Sky state.
Prosecutors sought a lengthy prison term for Payton, who violated virtually every hunting law on the books, but he instead received a large fine and probation and had his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for life.
Officials with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, who investigated the case, said although Payton won't be behind bars, his sentence nonetheless illustrates their crackdown on poaching and sends a message that poachers aren't welcome in one of the premier hunting states in the nation.
During a daylong proceeding in Missoula District Court, two starkly different pictures emerged of Payton, who was convicted of a slew of felonies and misdemeanors for killing moose, elk, deer, antelope, mountain goats and black bear.
Authorities portrayed him as an arrogant, ruthless killer of wildlife, a Texan who came to Montana and left a trail of carnage strewn across the landscape for 15 years, taking the biggest and the best trophy animals and leaving their populations poorer for it.
They said he obsessively chronicled his work in videotape, photos and paperwork, and tried to cover up his crimes by tampering with evidence and witnesses.
Investigators eventually followed that trail of blood and self-incrimination to his doorstep, where his home was packed with mounted heads, horns and hides of illegally taken animals.
A different picture of Payton emerged from the defendant, his attorney, wife and boss, who portrayed him as a gentle, honest family man whose only weapon today is a mouse trap.
They said he was driven not by greed but by a compulsion for which he's now receiving counseling, that he didn't deserve a prison term for a serious mistake for which he has taken responsibility.
He admitted killing the 30 animals he was charged with, but denied investigators' claim of brutality toward his victims.
“I'm a good, responsible hunter,” said Payton, who said he has gotten rid of his rifles, horses and other hunting equipment, “but I don't want anything to do with hunting anymore.”
In the end, Judge John Larson rejected the prosecution's request for a prison term and sentenced Payton to 20 years of probation, including five years of intensive supervision and 1,000 hours of community service.
Payton also must pay $52,744 in fines, restitution and court costs. He also was permanently banned from hunting, fishing and trapping or accompanying anyone in those pursuits in Montana, a prohibition that extends to 25 other states because Montana is part of an interstate wildlife compact.
Payton, 58, who recently moved from Seeley Lake to Corvallis, was sentenced more than three years after FWP started its investigation.
A jury convicted Payton earlier this year of four misdemeanor counts and he later pleaded guilty to seven felonies and four more misdemeanors, all involving illegal outfitting, tampering with witnesses and evidence, license violations and other crimes.
“He took a game animal in every unlawful way he could - at night, over baits, from roads, over limits, using other people's tags, closed seasons, you name it,” said J.D. Douglas, the FWP's lead criminal investigator in the case.
Payton also involved his family and friends in his poaching. Nine have pleaded guilty and received suspended prison sentences, temporary loss of hunting privileges and fines, restitutions and courts costs totaling more than $23,000. One suspect, Dean Hansen, a veterinarian in Frisco, Texas, remains at large.
Testifying at Payton's sentencing, Douglas said the case was unique because of the number of animals, the variety of violations, the long time frame over which they occurred, the number of people involved and the wide range of locations across the state.
The case also was unusual because Payton chronicled his bloodwork with videotape, photos and notes, and later used those materials to try to mislead investigators by attributing the kills to family, friends and fictitious hunting partners.
Douglas said Payton ignored not only the law but hunting ethics and common decency by letting some of the animals suffer before he killed them.
Prosecutors and wardens said Payton's case was worse than the poaching case of Dean and Renita Ruth, a Seeley Lake couple who were sentenced to prison in 2004.
In total, investigators documented 86 animals that Payton and others killed illegally, including 68 killed by Payton since 1990. The five-year statute of limitation had expired on many of the violations by the time investigators arrested Payton in 2005, so he was charged with only 30 violations.
Randy Arnold, one of two FWP game wardens who went undercover to pose as scofflaw hunters, testified that Payton bragged about being an illegal outfitter and that they paid him $4,500 for his services.
Payton, who also was convicted of illegally killing an elk in 1987 in Montana, has consistently downplayed his poaching spree and never taken full responsibility for his actions, said Barbara Harris, the prosecuting attorney.
Payton disputed that during his testimony, saying he had repeatedly apologized and accepted responsibility for poaching the 30 animals, although he still denies he was an outfitter.
In 2004, the last year before investigators caught up with him, Payton illegally shot three bull moose after waiting 25 years for a moose license.
“ ‘Well, there's no one around ... and nobody will ever know the difference,' ” he said, recalling what he thought when he poached the first one. “I was just obsessed with hunting. I just couldn't control myself.”
Payton said he shouldn't go to prison, in part because he needs mental health counseling for an obsession with hunting and medical treatment for prostate cancer.
He said going to prison would prevent him from paying restitution ordered by the court. He said he recently started work as a vacuum cleaner salesman and that he formerly sold insurance and river rafts.
He said he hasn't hunted in nearly three years and no longer wants anything to do with hunting.
“I've started a whole different way of life” with a new wife, new job and new home,” he said, tearfully at times.
During testimony about Payton's character and his ability to pay restitution, Harris, the prosecutor, said he was involved in a financial securities scam three years ago and that he had signed a consent agreement with state auditors in which he surrendered his insurance license. Payton said he had “never stolen a dime” and gave up his license without admitting guilt.
Dale Burke, one of four members of the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association who were in court for the sentencing, expressed disgust when Payton apologized to his “fellow hunters” for his crimes.
“We hunters aren't ‘fellows' of poachers and other criminals,” Burke said. “He should have gotten the maximum time in prison.”
Reporter John Cramer can be reached at 523-5259 or at [email protected].
