Poachers pay hefty price; felony charges dismissed
by The Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Two Minnesota men admitted they lied about poaching a deer in eastern Montana and agreed to pay stiff fines and accept a worldwide hunting ban for three years.

In return, a federal judge in Billings recently dismissed charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice against 35-year-old Daniel Dirksen of Montevideo, Minnesota, and 43-year-old Bryce Orwick of Clara City, Minnesota.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Wolff reached agreements with Dirksen and Orwick in which the men admitted they committed federal felonies to avoid misdemeanors and agreed to apologize to the court and a grand jury for lying.

Both paid $5,000 fines and $250 restitution to the state. And both are banned from hunting or fishing anywhere in the world for three years.