I think the next sentence is what really had impact: > Belderrain took a plea deal conditioned such that he would not appeal the Zone of Death issue to the 10t

I think the next sentence is what really had impact: > Belderrain took a plea deal conditioned such that he would not appeal the Zone of Death issue to the 10th Circuit, rendering the issue moot, at least for the time being. The whole story is a little hard to track. As far as I can tell he killed multiple elk in 2005 and left at least one of them headless in Yellowstone which was quickly discovered. A month later the Government found it's head in a taxidermy shop. He then signed the plea deal for poaching the elk waiving his right to claim the Zone of Death issue, but critically didn't mention his connection to the head. After the plea deal was signed, the Government linked the head to the body via DNA testing. Since this was "new information" it wasn't covered by the plea deal and he was convicted based on this evidence. He appealed to the 10th Circuit, claiming that the Government breached the plea deal by charging him for the elk, but the Government claimed the head was a separate crime and that his previous lies caused the Government to not suspect that link. The court sided with the Government. He got at least four years of jail, three years of probation, and some fines. This is a good reminder to always describe the fullest extent of your crimes in a plea deal. Any omission, even accidental, can be spun into a new charge if new information surfaces. [1] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca10/08-8016/08-8016-2011-03-14.html https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca10/0... [2] https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/yellowstone-elk-poacher-gets-jail-time/article_3578ad6a-1119-5bae-872d-9d977719d4f4.html https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/yellowstone-elk-p...