A Kodiak couple that Alaska State Troopers say operated an illegal hunting guide business on the island and brazenly advertised it in brochures and on a cable television show face a string of charges, including stealing money from the state, after a three-year troopers investigation.
Randy and Terri Blondin, owners of Kodiak Charters, are also accused of making false claims in advertising their services to Lower 48 and international clients and stealing more than $8,000 worth of license fees from the state Department of Fish and Game, according to charges filed in Kodiak District Court last month. The charges are a mix of misdemeanors and felonies.
"This was a pretty lengthy and complex investigation," said troopers Lt. Will Ellis in Kodiak. He said the cases eventually built to overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing from December 2002 to March 2005.
Randy Blondin, 48, is accused of leading hunts around Kodiak Island for Sitka black-tailed deer, bear and other game. Authorities say he did not have a guiding license -- only a transporting license to bring clients to where they could hunt on their own.
Clients, many of them professional hunters, spent thousands of dollars for multiple-day trips to the island to hunt on pristine Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge land.
One hunting adventure was captured on video and aired on an outdoor hunting and fishing cable show, "Outdoor Magazine." The show featured Blondin as the guide. Troopers found Kodiak Charters sold hunting and fishing licenses to the cast and crew but didn't turn those records over to the state, as required by law. Court documents said investigators found many clients of Kodiak Charters that were not listed in business records.
Terri Blondin, 41, is charged with selling clients hunting licenses, duck stamps, salmon stamps and big-game tags and not turning in the money or paperwork to the state, court documents say.
Randy Blondin is also accused of taking out more hunters and killing more animals than he recorded in his activity reports.
At a trade show in Texas, Randy Blondin told undercover law enforcement agents that he would be a one-on-one guide for Sitka deer or brown bear if they paid for the trip at the show, court documents say.
International clients told troopers they paid Randy Blondin to be their hunting guide, according to court documents. Written statements from Mexican hunters listed Randy Blondin as their registered guide. One of the Mexican men paid Blondin $5,600 for his deer hunt on the northwestern side of the island, court documents say.
Court documents say Blondin later told troopers he did not know the men were not Alaskans and "he had been deceived," according to charging documents.
Blondin told troopers "he could still call himself a guide because he was registered with the state as a waterfowl guide and a sportfish guide," charging documents say.
When shown a brochure for his business by the troopers that claims Kodiak Charters is owned and operated by lifelong Kodiak resident guides, "Blondin replied that the brochure does not say what kind of guide."
Other clients told troopers they were misled by Kodiak Charters, court documents say. One client who paid Randy Blondin to guide his hunt was shocked when Blondin took him to a remote island beach and told him to get out of the boat and hunt on his own, with no way to communicate with Blondin.
Assistant attorney general Roger Rom, who is prosecuting the case, said, "The state has a valid interest in regulating the business. ... The reason I take this so seriously is because it's dangerous to hunt brown bear, sheep. ... The reason we have a law is because it can be a dangerous activity. You want someone who has training, experience and knowledge."
Rick Younkins, chief investigator with the state's division of corporations, business and professional licensing, said, "We don't want someone coming up from the Lower 48 and having a terrible experience if their supposed guide doesn't know where the game was or know how to dress the animal."
Randy Blondin was charged with 11 counts, including deceptive business practices, guiding nonresidents without licenses and not completing required state paperwork for his transporting license.
Terri Blondin was charged with six counts including second-degree theft, misapplication of funds and not completing required state paperwork.
Phone calls to the Blondins were not returned.
Daily News reporter Megan Holland can be reached at mrholland@adn.com.
|
