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April 27, 2007
Gary R. Jordan, 58, President of the Colorado Outdoor Adventure
Guide School (COAGS) located near Victor, has pled guilty in Fourth Judicial
District Court to unlawfully hunting elk without a proper and valid license, and
the illegal take of a Samson bull elk. Original charges also included making a
false statement in the application of a hunting license, forgery, and criminal
impersonation.
Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) Officer Tonya Sharp received information on
September 17, 2006 that Jordan shot a bull elk during the 2006 muzzleloader
season. Through investigations and interviews, Sharp determined that Jordan did
not have an elk license for that season, but instead used an employee’s license.
Sharp recovered the elk meat from a Colorado Springs meat processor and the
antlers from a Teller County taxidermist.
On October 19, a search warrant was executed at COAGS by DOW wildlife officers,
USFS law enforcement, and the Teller County Sheriff’s department and Jordan was
placed under arrest. Subsequent interviews with students attending the COAGS
Pro-Guiding School indicated they assisted in packing out the elk.
Jordan was assessed $12,729 in fines. An administrative hearing will be held to
determine if his hunting and fishing privileges will be revoked and for how
long. Jordan has forfeited the muzzleloader rifle used in the crime. He has also
been ordered to donate $2,000 to DOW’s Operation Game Thief program that awards
payments to citizens who turn in poachers.
Sharp points out that more and more prosecutors in Colorado are getting tough on
poachers. “This case is great example of how the Division of Wildlife and the
District Attorney’s Office in the Fourth District worked together to make sure
justice was served.”
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