A Burwash Landing man who incorrectly filled out documentation to transport a pair of Dall sheep horns across the border was fined $3,500 Tuesday.

Luke Johnson, 37, pleaded guilty in territorial court to two charges under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act.

The proposed penalty of $1,750 for each charge was a joint submission by Crown prosecutor Lee Kirkpatrick and defence lawyer Mike Reynolds.

Johnson did not appear in court before Justice of the Peace Sharman Morrison-Harvey. He and his wife run a consulting business and some emergency work had taken him out of cell phone range, Reynolds said.

“He ought to be present, in my view, for the proceedings either by phone or in person,” said Morrison-Harvey. “It is a substantial fine.”

The charges stem from an incident in December of 2006, when Johnson went hunting with elder John Katzeek in Kluane National Park. As members of the Kluane First Nation, they have a legal right to subsistence hunt in the area.

Both men shot at a Dall sheep, but it was Katzeek’s shot that killed it, Reynolds said.

The sheep lay in an area that was difficult to access, so the men agreed to come back the next day with ropes.

The following morning, they successfully lifted the carcass out of a snowy hole, took some photos and transported it back to Johnson’s home.

Katzeek returned to Alaska and the meat was given to people in Johnson’s community, Reynolds said.

Johnson filled out a kill report in 2008. He wrote that the sheep had been killed in 2004 and that he killed the sheep, not Katzeek. He registered the horns and had them plugged.

This information was untruthful, Kirkpatrick said.

They remained in Johnson’s meat shed until Katzeek asked for them.

In March 2009, Johnson applied for a Wildlife Export Permit for the horns to transport them across the border to Katzeek.

Due to the incorrect information given about the kill, this form was invalid, Kirkpatrick said.

But Johnson delivered the horns to Katzeek in Haines. They were later stolen from the back of Katzeek’s truck.

Reynolds spoke about his client’s community involvement in Burwash Landing.

A father of two, Johnson sits on the Yukon Water Board and the Kluane National Park Management Board. He has worked as a volunteer firefighter and hockey and soccer coach, and has been deputy chief of the Kluane First Nation.

He regularly accompanies youth and elders on hunts.

“Given his background, it’s surprising this is before the court at all,” Reynolds said, calling Johnson a positive role model for aboriginal youth.

Regarding Johnson’s errors on the export permit, Reynolds said that, on a hunt, all members are given credit for a kill regardless of who fired the kill shot.

“It seems he got the dates wrong,” he said of the incorrect year listed on the form. “He was apparently unaware of how big a deal this would all become.”

Katzeek was convicted in a Juneau courtroom in February on one of nine felony counts of violating the Lacey Act, a U.S. federal law that prohibits the illegal importing, exporting and trafficking of wildlife, fish and plants.

Johnson was subpoenaed to testify at the elder’s trial earlier this year.

He testified that when he gave the sheep horns to Katzeek, he told him he had falsified the document.

The Juneau Empire reported at the time that Johnson had entered into a co-operation agreement with the government and wouldn’t be facing charges in the U.S.

“A proffer letter in place shields Johnson from being prosecuted under U.S. law for falsifying the documents, although he testified he is charged with a crime on the Canadian side of the border,” the newspaper reported.

Katzeek was found guilty of making a false record concerning his guide hunt records which are provided to the Alaska government.

Three Alberta residents also charged were acquitted of conspiracy and filing false documents in connection with a different hunt with Katzeek.

The investigation that led to Katzeek’s conviction was called Operation Bruin and involved authorities in the Yukon, Alberta and Alaska.

Morrison-Harvey agreed with Reynolds that it was surprising Johnson was before the court, given his leadership role in the community.

She fined him $1,750 on each of the two counts for a total of $3,500, and imposed the prohibitions recommended by the Crown: no Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) permits or Wildlife Export Permits for five years.

The prohibitions will remain in place for longer than five years if Johnson doesn’t pay the fines within that time.