ANCHORAGE — Rocker Ted Nugent is scheduled for a court hearing in Alaska on Tuesday, when he is expected to plead guilty to transporting a black bear he illegally killed.
The conservative activist and gun rights advocate signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that was filed Friday in U.S. District Court. Nugent was set to participate by telephone in Tuesday’s U.S. District Court proceeding in the southeast Alaska town of Ketchikan, his attorney said.
The plea agreement says Nugent illegally shot and killed the bear in May 2009 on Sukkwan Island in southeast Alaska days after he wounded a bear in a bow hunt, which counted toward a state seasonal limit of one bear for that location. The agreement says Nugent knowingly possessed and transported the bear in misdemeanor violation of the Lacey Act.
According to the agreement, the six-day hunt was filmed for Nugent’s Outdoor Channel television show “Spirit of the Wild.”
Nugent’s Anchorage attorney, Wayne Anthony Ross, said Monday that his client didn’t know he was breaking the law, which went into effect four or five years ago. Ross, an assistant hunting guide in Alaska, said he didn’t know about the rule either.
Besides, the first bear left only traces of blood, as if it had just been scraped by the projectile, according to Ross.
Nugent is going with a guilty plea, however, because “the law is the law,” Ross said.
“What are you going to do about it — a magician act?” he said. “The fact that we didn’t know about it doesn’t change it.”
Broadcasting footage of the hunt on his TV show also shows Nugent didn’t know he was in the wrong, said Ross, who sits with Nugent on the National Rifle Association’s board of directors.
“It’s kind of embarrassing for him because he practices ethical hunting and advocated ethical hunting and gets caught up in a crazy law that none of us have heard about,” Ross said.
A call seeking comment from assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Schmidt was not immediately returned Monday.
Nugent, who signed the document April 14, agreed to pay a $10,000 fine, according to the document, which says he also agreed to a two-year probation, including a special condition that he not hunt or fish in Alaska or Forest Service properties for one year. He also agreed to create a public service announcement that would be broadcast on his show every second week for one year, the document states.
Nugent also agreed to pay the state $600 for the bear that was taken illegally, according to the document.
A plea agreement would have to be approved by a judge.
Nugent, famed for his 1977 hit “Cat Scratch Fever,” drew the attention of the Secret Service last week after he rallied support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and said of the Obama administration: “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November.” His comments were made during a National Rifle Association meeting in St. Louis.
Nugent discussed the matter with two agents on Thursday while in Oklahoma, the singer said on his website. Nugent said he was just speaking figuratively and that he didn’t threaten anyone’s life or advocate violence.
A Secret Service spokesman has said the issue has been resolved.
With hunting, Nugent has run afoul of the law before.
In August 2010, California revoked Nugent’s deer hunting license after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of deer-baiting and not having a properly signed tag.
Nugent’s loss of that deer hunting license through June 2012 allows 34 other states to revoke the same privilege under the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Each state, however, can interpret and enforce the agreement differently.
Comments (45)
Add commentRevoke this one-hit wonder
This guy is a serial offender. His claim that he was "caught up in a crazy law that none of us have heard about" is pathetic.
If you're going to come to Alaska to shoot our wildlife, you better know the regulations.
Latitude,
Just how does an outsider know a new law when the ALASKAN guide dosn't know of the law either? HHMMmmm?
Easy bobc
Read the regulations. Take the online classes ADF&G offers.
If the guide misled him, then the guide's hunting privileges should be revoked too. Who was his guide anyway? Duby?
And he should be revoked anyway...
...for the really bad 'music' he made.
Gee Lat, obviously someone
Gee Lat, obviously someone like his music or he would be a broke panhandler. I have worked for decades in fish and wildlife regulation and there are many areas that I cant even keep track of. Back when I wore a badge and gun, we joked that you could write a ticket on anyone for some infraction. No one gets it a 100%. If they want to write you a ticket, they have multiple petty infractions to choose from. There is also the celebrity factor. Some trooper gets to be the one who "took down Ted Nugent" and gets to have news clippings on his I love me wall from CNN. 15 seconds of fame at Ted's expense.
looks
like littledude85 is all knowing, perhaps he should volunteer for Barry's cabinet then he could help the president from breaking the law too
Cat Scratch Fever
Hes got so much money and a team of lawyers that He will glady pay the fine.And be on his way to more hunting.
The whole picture
Come on boys - I might have been willing to cut Mr. Nugent some slack on the regulation - except for three things:
First - If you are going to be a hunter, make sure you are a good marksman. Dad always taught us that you don't take a shot until and unless you have a good one, and if you wound an animal, you track it to the best of your ability, or until it gets dark/dangerous, and finish the job - you don't leave a wounded animal out there. Hunting 101.
Second - betting that the Alaska guide knew the regs. "I didn't know" is a lame defense.
Third - Mr. Nugent already lost his privileges in California for Deer baiting and not having his tag signed? Is someone going to have the cajones to say he "didn't know" that you couldn't bait deer also? Really? The blatant nature of this other offence make it much more likely that they just did what was needed to 'make good TV' and knew darn well what the regs were.
123
swimmer first assumption is that he they didn’t track it, maybe not much of a blood trail, or enough to track safely.
second thats on the guide
thrid baiting a deer with an apple core, a salt lick (McDonalds salt packets dropped in the woods) or maybe he staked out some local fruits. lets face it in the land of flakes and nuts it's open season on anyone like Ted
Why let it wait till now?
I'm not a republican, tea bagger or Ted fan...but if he violated the law why wait till now to act on it? Sounds like it was OK till he went all wack job on us.....
@mamat - your homework
@mamat - your homework assignment is to look up the urban definition of Anderson Cooper's TEA Party slander. Check back and tell us if a "mama" should be writing such filth.
Something stinks with this all-of-a-sudden assault on Ted Nugent. Let's try and guess where it's coming from. I'll go first - the Oval Office?
Mama T
ADF&G Should have gone for the guide first, it is his job to know where and when to take a client, AND HE is getting paid to know the law, why would Ted doubt him?
Calypso
I don't know about you but for the last 3 + years I've thouight of it more as the oval orifice (& I'm not thinking about any holes above the shoulders)
Sounds like it was OK till he went all wack job on us.....
Mrs T who would us be? & why go after someone thats just voicing their opinion? Ho that right it's not your party's opinion. Daaaa I almost forgot how that works. It's only a war on (insert your preference) Woman, middleclass, poor, illegal aliens, environment, & clowns that make figures out of balloons.
Thanks Ted...
...for bringing this rule to the forefront before I found out the hard way.
LOL - quite a yoga move......
THAT amazing stretch to try and link the Oval Office to this case, which clearly has been going on for some time (you think a plea agreement of this magnitude is hammered out in 48 hours? Come on....)
second - islandhopper - I'd bed money on point #1, I'll give you point number 2, though I'm guessing that someone as experienced as Ted should know regs or at least be interested in them......but as for point 3 - are you really saying you bait deer, and so that's a-ok? If so, my opinion of you has just gone down a few notches. I was always taught to be able to hit what I was aiming at, track what was wounded, and follow the rules. For me it's a matter of civility and courtesy - to the game, to other hunters. Folks who take more than they need, hunt out of season, or bait animals, to me just seem rude and lazy, and disrespectful of other hunters.
the hypocrisy strikes once again
Despite the countless diatribes calypso goes on claiming that anyone who disagrees with him is either intolerant or elitist, he's yet again pompous enough to delegate homework to someone with whom he doesn't agree as though he's the master and all others are naive pupils. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Agreed with alaskabob: the onus should be on the guide in this instance, not on Nugent.
never
tried to bait a deer what would you use?
no
I didn't mean you, rather I should've said one
Speaking of Duby
I heard the jail time he was sentenced to will be served under "home confinement".. go figure
@sefood - relax a little.
@sefood - relax a little. Don't be so serious.
I've never accused anyone of being "intolerant or elitist". That's liberal speak...
Dudes an extremist to the max
Dudes an extremist to the max but he knows his rights and when he crosses a line and gets nailed he owned up to it.
Or maybe...
he really didn't know the regulation. He made a mistake and is paying for it.
ROFLMAO, Calypso!
Calypso - really? You've "never" accused anyone of being intolerant or elitist? Are you for real? I wish I had a dollar for every time you've accused someone of being intolerant or elitist (heck, I'd just take intolerant!) - - - I'd easily be able to pay for some not small home improvement projects I have coming up!
Say whatever you like, but at least have the stones to own what you've said.
island - perhaps an apology?
Islandhopper - maybe I took your point #3 the wrong way, it certainly sounded to me like you were condoning animal baiting.....and had some experience. If this is not the case - I apologize. What exactly did you mean by the comment below?
"thrid baiting a deer with an apple core, a salt lick (McDonalds salt packets dropped in the woods) or maybe he staked out some local fruits. lets face it in the land of flakes and nuts it's open season on anyone like Ted"
Nuge story
For those of you intent on worshiping Mr. Nugent, here's an anecdote quoted from the comments (author unknown) to a similar story in the Alaska Dispatch. You can judge the veracity for yourself:
_______________________________________________
Please allow me to share a disgusting personal experience with Ted Nugent 20+ yrs. ago: I was working the front desk of a prominent Anchorage hotel, where he normally stayed following his annual hunting trips. Sometime after 2:00 AM we responded to noise complaints after there was no answer on the phone.
Upon entering the suite with the Manager on duty, and security, we found that in addition to a Cartel's entire drug stock laid out, there were perhaps a half-dozen prostitutes who looked so young it was heartbreaking. (and they were clearly relieved to be asked to leave) From the television blared the obligatory porn, from a stereo blared the obligatory bad music. Typical narcissist Rock Star scene, except this is "The Nuge" we're talking about.
There were also dozens of arrows shot into every wall; from high-powered bows too, some were in right up to the fletching, almost through the wall, which could have killed someone. The idiots!
And it just gets worse:
A pair of White-tail Deer were hanging in the shower, where Ted & Co. were finishing up dressing their kill. It looked as if the Deer had been gutted on-sight, and then basically brought directly to the hotel. There was blood & viscera everywhere, the room looked like a horror film...apparently they had to replace all the carpets.
However, "The Nuge" was enraged at being 86'd. He swore vengeance on every one of us. (seriously) I was dismissed back to the desk as Ted began packing, raving the whole time. Never have I encountered a man as odious. And I went on to be a Stagehand for many years, encountering many "Stars". But no one can match the slime he exudes.
In addition to any other sentencing, his Alaskan hunting privileges should be permanently revoked.
(Why wasn't APD called regarding this incident, you many ask? I did ask. The answer was: mostly to protect the hotel. But a decision was also made that the girls had already had enough trouble, and that since he'd likely be let off the hook, they shouldn't be punished for his behavior.)
Ted Nugent is a creation for
Ted Nugent is a creation for attention. He is the redneck Howard Stern. Anyone who takes him seriously as any official spokesman or anything like that needs their head examined. He, like Stern, is all about shock value. Same with Ozzy. They are all cut from the same cloth. And 20 yrs ago, he was right in his prime. Stupidity and rockstar mentality were guaranteed. What were you expecting? Barry Manilow?
swimmer
02/29/12 only in California can fish & game president & board member Dan Richards who gets a hunting license in Idaho to hunt mountain lion be asked to resign because he legally shot said mountain lion in Idaho by his co-board members. This leads me to believe that the overwhelming belief is that Californians do not think hunting is a viable means of subsistence. That's what the flakes & nuts comments are driven by. As far as baiting a deer I really don't think that can be done, but I've been wrong before (once I think)
Rockstar? not in any price
Unfortunately this guy proves that he doesn't care about respecting the law, and as we seen recently he doesn't know when to shut up
Good articles on www.ariespost.com
Hunting Porno Hunt With Corey Rossi Walks Nugent Pays
He was not with a guide, he and "friends" were hunting black bear,not a guide requierd animal. Large Alaskan game animals that are mortally wounded ESPECIALLY bears can go for 10's of miles. I have guided a lot of hunters that had buck fever only to gut shoot, or break a shoulder of a bear. Those bears will most likely die...eventually. The guides all know this and shoot the escaping animal to assure the animal is not lost, as required by law.
A lot of hunting and particularly bow hunting has ben perverted by the emergence of hunting porno, and people like ted just can not help themselves,. they must indulge in the ego bath that it is, if you are the star,. It all eventualy boils down to the monetary/promotional value of the footage, they have taken something highly personal, the hunters relationship with the animal, at its most critical point, the stalk and the kill and publisized it,exactly what the porno industry has done to intimacy between people,.
Real hunters especially bow hunters assure broad side, or slightly quartering shots that assure the projectile will penetrate lung and heart. Only expert marksmen will attempt shots at small brain or spine targets.
Ted Nugent apparently will take risky angle shots with bows with little remorse for seriously injuring an animal. He did not want the bad press about bow wound loss in the news.
Black bears in South East have been reduced in numbers from heavy hunting pressure. There are needs to conserve Black bears, thus the wound loss regulation the Board of Game has implemented.
Ted Nugent should have been hunting in the Susitna valley with Corey Rossi where there are lots of Black Bears.... and maybe Corey would have sealed them under his license.... which brings up the glaring question ...why has Rossi not been charged with a Lacy Act violation by the Feds yet???.... Nugent pays and Rossi walks