April 8, 2010
Washington man sentenced for illegal Montana hunt
HAMILTON (AP) – A 46-year-old Washington man accused of taking part in an illegal hunt in Montana in 2003 has been given a five-year suspended sentence.
Alan T. Sweet, of Skagit County, Wash., previously pleaded guilty to a felony charge of unlawful possession of game animals and a misdemeanor charge of accountability for hunting without a license.
Sweet and 25-year-old Brent Mercado were charged in 2007 after Sweet’s ex-wife told Washington authorities the men had hunted illegally in Montana. She offered photos of Sweet holding a bighorn sheep’s head and other evidence.
Wildlife officials say the men, who did not have licenses to hunt in Montana, killed an antelope in Beaverhead County and a mule deer and a bighorn in Ravalli County.
Mercado will decide in the next two weeks whether to withdraw his guilty pleas after Ravalli County District Judge James Haynes said he would probably reject a plea agreement recommending a deferred sentence.
Mercado and Sweet accuse each other of being the triggerman.