A Yukon man who at one time made his living working for an outfitter has been ordered to pay a hefty fine for illegally guiding non-residents.

James R. Richards, 51, was fined a total of $31,500 and prohibited from hunting and guiding for 20 years. He was sentenced in territorial court on Monday morning.

Richards pleaded guilty to four charges: illegal transportation of wildlife under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRITTA); providing false or misleading information under the Wildlife Act; and counts related to accompanying or assisting non-residents on guided hunts in exchange for compensation, contrary to the Wildlife Act.

The hunting trips occurred in the Pelly Mountains in 2006, the Coast Mountains west of Whitehorse in 2009, in north-central Yukon in 2010 and in the Pilot Mountain area in 2011.

Using his own licence, Richards took unlicenced non-Yukon residents hunting for sheep and – using special guide licences – caribou, moose and grizzly bear in exchange for money.

According to Environment Yukon, only registered outfitters may provide guided sheep hunting opportunities to non-resident hunters. Guides with a special guide licence are not allowed to do so for compensation.

While Richards, a former Whitehorse resident, worked for a Yukon outfitter at one time, he wasn’t doing so during these hunts.

Ryan Hennings, manager of enforcement and compliance with Environment Yukon, said today the fine is significant, but the goal is deterrence.

“We take this very seriously,” he said.

“The position that the justice system is taking when you see this fine is they do not want to see a person gain from illegal activity. So the fine is equal to or greater than what the individual would have earned by conducting this illegal activity.”

James W. Colosimo, Jr., a 53-year-old Alberta resident, was also fined $15,000 and prohibited from hunting for 15 years.

While visiting the Yukon, Colosimo went on two sheep hunts with Richards during which Colosimo killed a Dall sheep and a Stone sheep.

Hennings said Colosimo didn’t have a hunting licence, and he used Richards’ licence and tag.

They then claimed Richards had hunted the rams, and shipped them to Colosimo’s home in Alberta.

“Because they were taken illegally, contrary to the laws in the territory, he subsequently committed the offence under WAPPRIITA and was in illegal possession of this wildlife every day he had them,” Hennings said.

The two sets of sheep horns were seized by Alberta Fish and Wildlife and will be returned to the Yukon.

While Colosimo still lives in Alberta, he has been doing some mining work in the Yukon, said Crown prosecutor Lee Kirkpatrick.

If he resides in the territory during the next 15 years, he will not be allowed to obtain a Yukon hunting licence.

Neither man was present in court on Monday. Both were represented by their lawyers, who phoned in to the courtroom.

This investigation began in 2010 after Environment Yukon received a tip from the public.

That led to conservation officers in the Yukon and in Alberta obtaining search warrants for Richards’ and Colosimo’s residences.

“Once we then were able to do that and collect the information and evidence that we had from those residences, it took us a while to analyze and put evidence together to get us to where we are today,” Hennings said of the lengthy process.

Conservation officers remind the public that Wildlife Act and Environment Act violations can be reported confidentially at any time to the TIPP line (1-800-661-0525) or www.env.gov.yk.ca/tipp.