Ted Nugent Strikes Plea Deal for Illegal Hunting Charges
Ted Nugent has agreed to plead guilty to transporting a black bear he illegally killed in southeast Alaska. USA Today reports Nugent made the admission in signing a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that was filed Friday in U.S. District Court. The plea agreement says Ted illegally shot and killed the bear in May 2009 on Sukkwan Island days after wounding a bear in a bow hunt, which counted toward a state seasonal limit of one bear. According to the agreement, first reported by the Anchorage Daily News, the six-day hunt was filmed for his Outdoor Channel television show, Spirit of the Wild. In the hunt, Nugent used a number of bear-baiting sites on U.S. Forest Service property. The document says Nugent knowingly possessed and transported the bear in misdemeanor violation of the federal Lacey Act. Nugent, identified in the agreement as Theodore A. Nugent, agreed to pay a $10,000 fine, according to the agreement, which says he also agreed with a two-year probation, including a special condition that he not hunt or fish in Alaska or Forest Service properties for one year. He also agreed to create a public service announcement that would be broadcast on his show every second week for one year, the document states. "This PSA will discuss the importance of a hunter's responsibility in knowing the rules and regulations of the hunting activities that they engage in, which is subject to the review and final approval, prior to any broadcast, by a representative of the United States Attorney's Office in the District of Alaska," the agreement says. Nugent, who signed the document April 14, also agreed to pay the state $600 for the bear that was taken illegally, according to the agreement. This isn’t the first time Ted has broken the law with illegal hunting practices: in 2010, Nugent plead no contest to misdemeanor charges of illegal deer baiting and failing to have a properly signed hunting tag while on a 2009 hunt in Northern California. Ted paid a $1,750 fine for the incident, which was part of the filming of his Outdoor Television series.
