Virginia man sentenced for hunting violations

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 10:35:54 am CDT

Daily Sun staff

A Virginia man has been sentenced to five years’ probation and one year of home detention in U.S. District Court for hunting violations in southeast Nebraska.

Kent Hippen of Virginia was sentenced late last week in U.S. District Court following a two-year investigation into hunting violations in southeastern Nebraska.

The sentence also included more than $25,000 in court-ordered payments.

Hippen pleaded guilty in February to felony violations of a federal law that prohibits guides from helping clients illegally kill wildlife.

Hippen and Paul Payton operated Nebraska Trophy Whitetails, a guiding and outfitting service. Payton, who also has pleaded guilty, was scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, The men were indicted after a two-year covert investigation, known as Operation Stateline.

Presenting evidence in February, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Everett said Hippen took an out-of-state client to a Nebraska field along the Nebraska-Kansas border in April 2003.

The hunter killed three wild turkeys. The Nebraska limit at the time was one, while Kansas had a two-turkey limit.

Hippen put a Nebraska tag on one bird and Kansas tags on the others, making it appear that the client had shot one turkey in Nebraska and two in Kansas.

U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf sentenced Hippen to five years’ probation and one year of home detention. He can farm and fish but is prohibited from hunting, guiding or outfitting.

In lieu of a fine, Hippen must make a $20,000 contribution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and is expected to pay half of nearly $13,000 in reimbursement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the costs of the investigation.

Hippen also must perform 100 hours of community service, such as helping with hunter education classes.

Leave a Comment

All posts are subject to our Terms and Standards.
Your posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
(optional)
   
GrendelGrendel
May 20, 2008 3:41 PM
Why does he only pay half of the investigation cost? He should pay it all. And how is this guy qualified to TEACH hunter education classes? He learned a lot about how they caught him and what evidence is admissible in court. He's just going to teach other people how not to get caught like he did.

People that don't know how to track game have to CHEAT to get a kill. That hurts everybody else who work on their hunting skills and try to pass an American tradition on tho their kids.

This guy is a cheat and un-American.
Justin
May 20, 2008 10:47 PM
All that for killing 3 Turkeys, seems like a waste of time and money to me.
Anya
May 21, 2008 9:59 AM
One year of home detention????? What is this; high school? Does he have to wear a dunce hat when he's teaching Hunter Safety?
Whitney S
May 21, 2008 10:00 AM
Well Kent only has to pay half the investigation costs because he is only half of the guilty party. Paul Peyton is also facing federal charges for this crime, therefore I'm guessing the courts will order him to pay the other half.
As far as teaching hunter education classes, Kent is a very qualified person regardless of this crime. Also considering you don't have to have any special training to lead the classes, anybody could do it.
But that is besides the point, the journalist who wrote this article may have lead you to believe that teaching hunter education classes is what Kent has in mind. However, the article is mearly stating hunter education classes as an example of something he could do to complete his 100 hours of community service. It doesn't say that is what he plans to do.
Also I wouldn't go calling Kent Hippen un-American. He has a has a child serving in the military while you are here trying to "track" turkeys and work on your hunting skills.
del
May 21, 2008 11:29 AM
If you think thats cheating, you should see all the people fishing without fishing permits and keeping fish their not suppose to.
Mike D.
May 21, 2008 3:10 PM
I know this is illegal, but is it that serious? The guy shot 3 turkeys instead of 1. Big deal. Its not like they were bald eagles or something. Just seems to me that we could be spending our money better.
duh
May 22, 2008 11:17 AM
Obey the law and then you don't have to pay the price!!!
Grendel
May 22, 2008 11:53 AM
Cheating is selfish and in this case greedy. If they guy needs more than the limit he should raise them to shoot, not cheat some first time kid hunters out of a wild bird. He's killing the sport and setting a bad example for young Americans.

look again
May 22, 2008 12:25 PM
There are two people that run this outfit and one is not going to be sentenced until monday. Now don't you think that if he is co-owner in this that maybe he will get stuck pay for the other half of the investigation? Use some common sense people!
Country Life
May 22, 2008 1:22 PM
Kent and his family and Paul make alot of money with this business.I think its 3000.00 for a garenteed kill. Multiply that by how many hunters per season. Maybe 50 to how many per year? Talk about a killing!It means his family is still able to keep the business going. He will be able to run the opperation and count the money at home.What they were busted for was just one instance.Not for all that I imagine has went on.
NONsense
May 22, 2008 6:53 PM
all this for 3 turkeys,,big deal,,not like there is a shortage of them round here.
Chris
May 22, 2008 9:54 PM
The part about all of this that you dont hear about is all of the trespassing on other peoples property. This guy has been doing this for years and finally got caught. If a regular guy got caught for these same infractions, we would be put in jail and pay a lot more fines than this. Makes a person wonder whose palm was greased and where?
Daily Reader
May 23, 2008 7:00 AM
Folks there was a LOT more to this!

This was simply plea bargained down to this. This all started a couple years ago, there were allegations of land trespassing, illegal taking of game, forging hunting licenses, etc.. It's not just an issue of 3 turkys!

Personally I think he got off pretty easy! I'm sure he made more than $25,000 on this!
T
May 23, 2008 9:17 AM
It was three turkeys on that hunting trip. Who knows how many other turkeys or game were killed illegally. I believe this was worth the investigation.
Alan
May 24, 2008 10:00 AM
Ya know, a couple years ago I had a run in with a guy with Virginia tags on his SUV. I was with my family and we like to take my spotlight out and look at wildlife after dark. This was near the town of Reynolds, NE. This guy in the SUV pulled up and asked if he could 'help' me and then started to tell me how I was trespassing etc etc. I wonder if this was the same guy? There was 2 huge bucks in the herd we were watching and had been watching for over 2 years. Just about bet he was gonna kill those deer under cover of darkness.
Text Size:
Text Size Increase Text Size Decrease
Print Story Email Story

Calendar of Events