Jeff Foiles Verdict

[life=outdoors92]

well, here it is if some of you did not see it yet:

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x2069920489/Fallin-Skies-hunter-gets-13-months-100K-fine

[harvey lee]

By the looks of the violations, the ducks will be much safer.

This is why we have the laws we do due to people like this.

[JimBuck]

I'm curious to see what happens in Canada.

[varmithtr]

2 misdemeanors?

That is a joke. Think about how much money the government spent on getting a conviction on this guy, and they plea it away with 2 misdemeanors. He can hunt again in 3 years????

This windbag scofflaw should have had no less than a felony with no rights to gun ownership or hunting again. He should also have to repay any monies he made from publishing his crimes on video.

[mrklean]

seems like he got away with a lot

[duckhuntr21]

Oh for stupid....He's laughing the whole way home. Hopefully he gets what's coming to him when he appears in Canada.

[harvey lee]

2 misdemeanors?

That is a joke. Think about how much money the government spent on getting a conviction on this guy, and they plea it away with 2 misdemeanors. He can hunt again in 3 years????

This windbag scofflaw should have had no less than a felony with no rights to gun ownership or hunting again. He should also have to repay any monies he made from publishing his crimes on video.

+1

Until they really penalize these wildlife crooks, they will continue.

He should never be able to guide or hunt again in his life.

he did not make one mistake. He broke the law numerous times.

[LightningBG]

Don't forget about....

Fallin’ Skies video star Jeffrey Foiles will serve 13 months in jail and pay $100,000 in fines after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday to two misdemeanor charges related to violation of federal wildlife laws.

13 months in jail is no joke.

[varmithtr]

With good time, typically, that's 8.5 months. With time served, probably 7.5. He would be able to ice fish this season.

I am not really worried about putting the guy in prison. What I can't believe, is that they let him plea down to a misdemeanor. Having a record as a felon vs. a misdemeanor is a HUGE difference.

His blatent disregard for the law, and profiting from it to boot, in my opinion, was a felony level offense. If the government put that much time and money into the undercover operation, they coudl have taken the time to bring it to a trial.

[LightningBG]

If the government put that much time and money into the undercover operation, they coudl have taken the time to bring it to a trial.

Maybe they'll use that extra time to convict a rapist or murderer instead.

[Neighbor_guy]

You dont serve 13 months in jail, you serve it in PRISON. "Jail" sentences are usualy 12months or less. A year and a day = "Big Boy Jail"...

[uwleagle]

The jail time and fine doesnt bother me but they should have taken away his hunting license for way longer than that. I'm curious as to how this will all affect his business.

[bobbymalone]

a little stint in the big house, a big fine, supervised release, public service announcements --- yeah, I am fine with this punishment and I am fine with the example that is being made. Hopefully, he more or less doubles up in Canada though.

I'm sure he's still got some fans that eat up his turds, but I'm guessing the old video and duck call business took a hit as did the guide operation. It's too bad that more retailers don't pull his junk off the shelves though. I think it sends the wrong message to continue selling his junk.

The only complaint I have as far as legal punishment is he should have lost the hunting license thing for longer than 2 years.

[LightningBG]

You dont serve 13 months in jail, you serve it in PRISON. "Jail" sentences are usualy 12months or less. A year and a day = "Big Boy Jail"...

You certainly can serve a 13 month sentence in "jail". There is no set time limit, but its often 1-2 years or less. But... you are correct, in that he will probably be in big boy prison, because its a federally prosecuted crime, not because of the time period.

[bobbymalone]

You certainly can serve a 13 month sentence in "jail". There is no set time limit, but its often 1-2 years or less. But... you are correct, in that he will probably be in big boy prison, because its a federally prosecuted crime, not because of the time period.

given that he is a somewhat celeb and was convicted of a non-violent crime, I'm betting he doesn't go to the break the broomstick off supermax prison. Either way though, prison is prison. I have my doubts on it being much fun.

[Gordie]

The jail sentance should be served on weekends only IMO

[Black Bear]

I predict that the Canada verdict will be MUCH different. I suspect he will not be visiting any part of Canada any time soon. Tme will tell.

[bobbymalone]

The jail sentance should be served on weekends only IMO

I say it should be from Sept through Nov for 4 years. Lol.

[PierBridge]

A year in County would be worse time then a year in your so called big boy jail.

Pretty reasonable conclusion if you ask me. Obviously his USA hunting privileges were the key thing for him and his defense team.

[Maxxed Out]

Jeff Foiles has killed enough geese and ducks for many of our lifetimes. He has said many times his favorite thing is bow hunting. The biggest and best punishment that could come from this is retailers not carrying his calls and products.

[zamboni]

Felony=no more guns. Seems that would have been more fitting. 2 misdemeanors for this guys a joke. I have seen/heard of people doing alot less and get worse punishment. The wealthy get favorable treatment- always have, always will.

[Maxxed Out]

Felony=no more guns. Seems that would have been more fitting. 2 misdemeanors for this guys a joke. I have seen/heard of people doing alot less and get worse punishment. The wealthy get favorable treatment- always have, always will.

The wealthy don't get favorable treatment they can just afford the best lawyers.

[life=outdoors92]

agreed. i thought this case would actually take a lot longer with his million dollar lawyers. here's another thing i wanna throw out there, he is required to give youth talks about wildlife and why not to break the law like he did. would you want any of your kids near this man? or do you think its the right thing for a man who has continually broken the law while fully well knowing what he was doing to teach youth about his mistakes.

[EJ_Mac]

13 months in prison is actually outstanding for a wildlife crime in federal court.

It's not he government that's to blame for "wasting money" and only coming up with this sentence. It's the law, the politics involved in the criminal justice system, and the backseat that natural resource crimes always end up taking to other crimes in the federal judicial system; guns, drugs, violent crimes, etc. Sometimes they rightly take a backseat, obviously, but sometimes not.

And as much money as was spent on the case, that's a drop on the bucket compared to what would have been spent on court costs, going to trial, the time of the government attorneys for trial prep, working with witnesses, nailing down statements, etc. But now he's been exposed, so hopefully he's out of business. If not, he'll always be on the radar and will need to be doing it better and cleaner than the next guy. You'll almost never see a felony in federal court without a trial, for obvious reasons.

I don't know if the Crown Prosecutors north of the border will be any more agressive - history makes me doubt it. But I don't think he'll be hunting up there anytime soon.

If we really want to stop people like this, don't buy the [PoorWordUsage] they're peddling and help keep 'em in business, where they get a chance to influence younger hunters. Even if you don't know whether or not someone is doing something illegal, anyone who would use terms like "Strait Meat" or "Falling Skies" to describe their waterfowl hunting activities doesn't exactly have the best interests of the sport at heart, IMO. The kind of person who is all about the killing and nothing else is not the kind of person I think should be setting an example for younger hunters, anyway.

Sorry for the soappbox rant!

[PierBridge]

Quote:

13 months in prison is actually outstanding for a wildlife crime in federal court.

Indeed!

+1 for the rest of post!

[pushbutton]

Excellent post!!!

[troutkingmaster]

My thought is this...The reason Jeff Foiles committed these crimes was to greedily make money. The best way to penalize him, along with prison, is to take from him all the wealth and "prestige" that he gained while committing these crimes, which we all have the power to do. We now know that it wasn't his 150 dollar goose calls and fully flocked FA decoys that put those bands on his lanyard, it was an air rifle in a city park. Stick it to him worse than the feds could by not giving him a dime out of your pocket. I have already emailed several sporting goods chains urging them to stop selling his products in the name of conservation. Message is simple, you sell his products for him or you buy his products, you support what he did.

UPDATE: I received this response from "the big C" retail store:

"In light of Jeff Foiles pleading guilty to game law violations, Cabelas will no longer conduct business with Foiles, including the purchase ofhis products. While Cabelas has not placed and orders for his products since indictments were made public, we do have carryover inventory we plan to liquidate as quickly as possible"

KUDOS TO THEM

[EJ_Mac]

Quote:

KUDOS TO THEM

Actually, the kudos really belong to YOU, as the hunter and consumer. You're the one who keeps Cabela's in business, and taking the time to speak your mind (along with others who probably did the same) is the real reason why any business would stop carrying someone's product.

[duckster]

EJ,

Nice rant, I agree with you totally. It is all about killing with a lot of hunters and especially these guys. These guys are businessmen not sportsman.

Especially concerns me that there seems to be no respect for the game that they are pursueing. If there was they wouldn't show the kill shot over and over again in slow-motion and laugh about blowing birds apart with their shots. I don't even watch them anymore because it just [PoorWordUsage] me off.

Duckster

[skee0025]

With good time, typically, that's 8.5 months. With time served, probably 7.5.

If I read correctly it was a Federal conviction. If thats the case he will do 13 months. There is no "good time" in the federal system. 13 months = 13 months.

I also just dropped an Email to the fine people that host the Game Fair at the Armstrong Ranch telling them if they allowed Foiles or anyone representing his business interests to occupy a booth hawking his wares I would not attend this years as I have for the last decade or so. I encourage others here to do the same.