Convicted poacher offers extra $30K to stay out of jail - Action News
Home WebMail Thursday, November 14, 2024, 11:52 AM | Calgary | 6.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
North

Convicted poacher offers extra $30K to stay out of jail

A Whitehorse man facing potential jail time for poaching a large collection of big game animals has offered to pay a larger fine, and never hunt again, if he's allowed to serve his sentence in the community.

Jonathan Ensor, who pleaded guilty to a string of wildlife charges, will be sentenced next week

A Yukon conservation officer conducts a search at Jonathan Ensor's property south of Whitehorse, in October 2015. (Mike Rudyk/CBC)

A Yukonpoacher who killed an unprecedented number of big game animals says he'll pay a larger fine, and agree to never hunt in Yukon again, if he can avoid jail time.

Jonathan Ensor, 34, pleaded guilty last week to a string of wildlife charges laid against him after a 2015 raid on his property near Whitehorse. Conservation officers seized a bison, an elk, a mule deer, a Dall sheep, a caribou, an eagle and other game birds, all of which had been hunted illegally.

Yukon prosecutors are seeking a sixmonth jail term for Ensor, along with a $15,000 fine to be paid to the territory's "Turn In Poachers and Polluters" (TIPP) fund. They're also urging a 20 year hunting ban.

A six month jail sentence for poaching would be unprecedentedin Yukon. The longest term cited by prosecutors was a 45-day sentence delivered to a Dawson City man, years ago.

At his sentencing hearingin Yukon territorial courton Tuesday,Ensorargued for a different sentence. He says he'll pay $45,000 to the TIPPfund, and agree to never hunt in Yukon again, if he can serve time in the community instead of jail.

He says he'll contribute $1,000 per month to the fund until it's paid, if he's allowed to continue his construction job in Whitehorse.

"My boss depends on me to be at work,"Ensortold the court.

At the hearing, Ensor submitted a number of letters of support from Yukon employers. He alsotold judge Michael Cozens he killed the animals for food to subsidize the high cost of living in the Yukon.

But he also saidhe's changed his ways since the arrest, and plans to raise his own food on a homestead he's now pursuing in the Marsh Lake area.

Judge Cozens says Ensor will definitely serve time either behind bars or in the community.He's adjourned sentencing until Jan. 20.