DENVER — An assistant hunting guide was ordered to home confinement and probation for his role in what wildlife officials have called one of the worst cases of illegal cat poaching in decades.

A judge sentenced Nicholaus Rodgers to six months home confinement, a $5,000 fine, 50 hours of community service and three years of probation for aiding in the illegal capture, maiming and killing of mountain lions and bobcats in Colorado and Utah, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In August, Rodgers — along with his boss, Christopher Loncarich — pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits transportation and sale of unlawfully taken wildlife.

Loncarich was sentenced in November to 27 months in prison and three years' probation.

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The men facilitated the hunts over the course of the 2007 to 2010 seasons under Loncharich’s Colorado-based company, Loncarich Guides and Outfitters. During that time, the men helped 18 clients — many of whom lacked the required license to hunt cats in Utah — kill more than 30 mountain lions and bobcats in the Bookcliffs Mountains, according to a joint investigation by Colorado Parks and Wildlife the DWR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Each client paid up to $7,500 to poach mountain lion and as much as $1,500 for bobcats, according to the DWR.

The guides would capture and maim the cats before the clients arrived for the hunt, making the animals easier to shoot, officials said. They’d use methods such as shooting the animals in the paws, stomach or legs, holding them in cages or attaching leg-hold traps to the cats before the clients arrived, according to the investigation.

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Outfitter in illegal cat-hunting case headed to prison

A former hunting outfitter will spend time in prison for illegally catching and maiming Utah mountain lions and bobcats for his paying clients to shoot.

In addition, the guides would often use radios and speak in code to evade law enforcement when transporting the poached cats back over the Colorado border. Loncarich would use falsified documents to “check in” the animals with wildlife officials and obtain seals for the hides, according to the FWS.

"The disturbing conduct uncovered during the course of this investigation is a reminder that even today, poaching remains a threat to the wildlife populations,” said DWR law enforcement chief Tony Wood in a statement. "We hope this sentencing serves to deter those who are intent upon exploiting wildlife populations at the expense of present and future generations of ethical sportsmen and others who appreciate wildlife."

Rodgers is banned from hunting or fishing while on probation, according to FWS.

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