OPERATION CODY- An undercover investigation into WA's commercial poaching

[ucwarden]

Wild game poacher sentenced to community service, home detention

Tacoma man, 46, said to be 'one of the largest illegal wildlife traffickers in Washington state history'

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/04/04/3133820/wild-game-poacher-sentenced-to.html##storylink=cpy

Not sure if this made the papers outside of Tacoma.  Seems like a slap on the wrist to me.  Hopefully his cooperation brings charges against many of the other scumbags in the book, especially the business owners that fed questionable game to customers.

His cooperation was as much of a joke as his sentence.....nothing new came out of his "cooperation".
His monetary penalties portion is coming in a couple of weeks.  I hope he at least has to pay back the money we gave him in payment for the illegal elk and deer, but at this point I have lost a lot of faith in the "legal system".  I have, multiple times, seen people get sentenced to serious jail time for taking one single elk out of season.  This sentence makes me sick.

i can with all honesty say i feel completly bad for you TODD, all your hard work and the danger you put yourself and jennifer in and this kind of B.S happens, its sad to say the least how this state and country are ran. i can see why so many get discouraged, i guess all we can hope for now is a leader to get put in place that wants to take the battle to them and force these piece of trash prosecutors to earn their friggin paycheck, at what time do we as a state of voters say enough why is it that we cant clean house and start new, sometime it needs to be like the wild west where one can do the cleaning

Thanks.  This is sickening, but unfortunately this is a bi-product of the "Wild West" meeting up with the ultra-liberal coast.

[WSU]

Wild game poacher sentenced to community service, home detention

Tacoma man, 46, said to be 'one of the largest illegal wildlife traffickers in Washington state history'

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/04/04/3133820/wild-game-poacher-sentenced-to.html##storylink=cpy

Not sure if this made the papers outside of Tacoma.  Seems like a slap on the wrist to me.  Hopefully his cooperation brings charges against many of the other scumbags in the book, especially the business owners that fed questionable game to customers.

His cooperation was as much of a joke as his sentence.....nothing new came out of his "cooperation".
His monetary penalties portion is coming in a couple of weeks.  I hope he at least has to pay back the money we gave him in payment for the illegal elk and deer, but at this point I have lost a lot of faith in the "legal system".  I have, multiple times, seen people get sentenced to serious jail time for taking one single elk out of season.  This sentence makes me sick.

i can with all honesty say i feel completly bad for you TODD, all your hard work and the danger you put yourself and jennifer in and this kind of B.S happens, its sad to say the least how this state and country are ran. i can see why so many get discouraged, i guess all we can hope for now is a leader to get put in place that wants to take the battle to them and force these piece of trash prosecutors to earn their friggin paycheck, at what time do we as a state of voters say enough why is it that we cant clean house and start new, sometime it needs to be like the wild west where one can do the cleaning

The time for you to say enough is the next time the issue of tax increases come up.  We're going to have to build more jails, hire more people (court staff, judges, prosecutors, janitors, sheriffs, jail staff, medical staff, etc), build additional could buildings, buy additional transportation, pay to house these people, etc. if you want more people thrown in jail.

Who wants to pay more taxes?  In the alternative, what programs should local governments cut?

[jackmaster]

i am  sure there is alot of places to trim the fat in are fine state administration, so are you thinking its a good idea to not prosecute poachers  we could also start by cutting alot of these programs in the prisons that make these cons feel a little more comfortable, prison isnt suppose to be comfy, its suppose to make it where you never want to come back millions of dollars are spent on that alone and it needs to stop. there is alot of wasted money in this state, my belief is there are few that have their hands alittle further inserted into the cookie jar well start using that money for stuff alittle more meaningful 

[Special T]

Well if they don't throw him in jail Lets hope they fine the hell out of him. Its possible that that is the only real way we are going to get some satisfaction. 

[WSU]

i am  sure there is alot of places to trim the fat in are fine state administration, so are you thinking its a good idea to not prosecute poachers  we could also start by cutting alot of these programs in the prisons that make these cons feel a little more comfortable, prison isnt suppose to be comfy, its suppose to make it where you never want to come back millions of dollars are spent on that alone and it needs to stop. there is alot of wasted money in this state, my belief is there are few that have their hands alittle further inserted into the cookie jar well start using that money for stuff alittle more meaningful 

No, I don't think we should stop prosecuting poachers and wouldn't mind if they were treated more harsher.  My point is it ain't a simple as saying we should do it.  You, or someone, needs to suggest actual dollars that can be raised or cut to do so.  What programs, specifically, should be cut?  I'm not saying there aren't some, but realistic change will require more than vague internet posts (I'm not intending to single Jackmaster out but am trying to point out the problem). 

And, I agree that fines and restitution should make the crime hurt also and fit what the profit he made through his crimes.

[Skillet]

If I lived in Pierce County, I would make it a mission to make certain that the "Honorable" Elizabeth Martin was in her final term on the bench... her judgement is in serious question if she bought this criminal's story.

A quick jump onto the Pierce County website shows she is up for re-election in 2016.  And look at that, there's a phone number - (253) 798-6630.  Bet that voicemail is going to be full of registered Pierce County residents who will suggest that she make up for her misguided sentencing by leveling a monster fine against this convicted poacher and wildlife trafficker.

How many Pierce County residents are going to forget about this in two years at the ballot box?  I hope not many.

[Curly]

What we need is someone like Sheriff Joe from AZ to trim the fat in the prison system.

[ucwarden]

Honestly, it's days like this that make me think WDFW Deputy Chief Cenci isn't the only one who believes "Nobody gives a @#$# about deer and elk".
This was a tough pill to swallow, since this guy (and his crew) absolutely devastated the elk herds for 7 years.

[ucwarden]

Here is the post, that I just put on my book website (www.operationcody.com):

In what many call an egregious miscarriage of justice, on 04/04/14, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Martin sentenced a man who was believed to have been the single largest illegal wildlife trafficker in history; Bona Bunphoath to 30 days of community service and 60 days’ home detention for selling deer, elk and sturgeon in violation of state law.  It is not known if his ice-cream privileges were revoked or not.

[jackmaster]

thank you skillet, i know i will be leaving a message, i doubt she checks them, i am sure her secratary takes care of that and probably erases any messages that might hurt her poor whittle feelings   it sickens me that people who just screw up once in their life get the book thrown at them and then jacknobs like this clown spout off crap from their home country in which he has probably never even been to, and she buys it hook line and sinker...... pretty friggin sad..... i got a memory like a damn mule so i know i wont forget when it comes to election time

[Dhoey07]

The Bunphoath story just ran in the outdoor section of the spokesman review. What a joke   

[ucwarden]

The Bunphoath story just ran in the outdoor section of the spokesman review. What a joke   

It absolutely makes me sick.  If you take the time, stress, and risk my partner endured out of it, and just look at the money the state put into this case, and the absolutely devastating impact this one guy put on our wildlife populations; that alone should be good for about 20 years in the joint.  At least in my book.

[quadrafire]

His quote that "he was sorry, he didn't know any better". LOL

[Bob33]

SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2014
 
Field reports: Wildlife trafficker gets minimal sentence
 
POACHING – A Tacoma man described as “one of the largest illegal wildlife traffickers in Washington state history” was sentenced last week to 30 days of community service and 60 days’ home detention for selling deer, elk and sturgeon in violation of state law.
 
Bona Bunphoath, 46, had pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree unlawful trafficking in fish and wildlife.
 
Bunphoath was arrested in 2012 after investigators with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife learned he was illegally dealing in wild game and set up a sting to catch him, court records show.
 
Fish and Wildlife detective Todd Vandivert, now retired, detailed his investigation in a letter to the court.
 
Vandivert said he and his partner, over the course of 19 months, bought 10 whole elk carcasses and three deer from Bunphoath and sold him one deer. The going price for an elk was $600, with deer going for $200-$250, court records show.
 
“Additionally, Mr. Bunphoath sold or coordinated the sale of 11 sturgeon,” Vandivert said. “As you can guess, we were not Mr. Bunphoath’s only customers … he several times told us he had many customers for his illegal fish and wildlife and had no problem selling animals to others.”
 
Investigators say many of the animals were harvested out of season by people in the Yakima area and sold to Bunphoath, who then resold them.
 
“I assure the court Mr. Bunphoath was fully aware of just how illegal the sale of deer and elk is in Washington,” Vandivert said. “… Mr. Bunphoath is one of the largest illegal wildlife traffickers in Washington state history (if not the single largest), and his activities have had a tremendous adverse impact to the wildlife populations of our state.”
 
Vandivert asked for the “most severe penalties possible.”
 
Bunphoath faced prison time under the original nine counts. But Pierce County prosecutors and defense attorney Michael Schwartz engineered a plea deal in which Bunphoath avoided a harsher sentence by agreeing to cooperate with authorities in their investigation of others.

[Elkaholic daWg]

Bunphoath faced prison time under the original nine counts. But Pierce County prosecutors and defense attorney Michael Schwartz engineered a plea deal in which Bunphoath avoided a harsher sentence by agreeing to cooperate with authorities in their investigation of others.

honor among thieves? This POS HAS no HONOR of ANY kind!!!!! Nor do the dealing attorneys!