WYOMING — A Tuesday announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Wyoming, details three separate cases of misbehaving on public lands that led offenders to be sentenced to jail time.
Wilson resident Michael Brockman, 55, was convicted of driving under the influence in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), according to the announcement.
He was also reportedly convicted of: interfering with a law enforcement officer, which carries a jail sentence of three days; refusing an official breath test, which got him another seven days in jail; leaving the scene of an accident, leading to a $650 fine; and refusing to comply with a search warrant for a blood test that was issued by a U.S. Magistrate Judge, adding another 10 days to his jail sentence. On top of that, he was sentenced to pay a fine of $750 plus mandatory court costs, and was placed on two years of unsupervised probation, which includes a two-year ban from entering GTNP.
The Attorney’s Office noted that under American search and seizure codes, the operator of a motor vehicle refusing a breath test on public land leads to a one-year ban on operating a motor vehicle on all federal lands in the U.S.
The same code applies to the case of Sandra Pappas, a 31-year-old from Arvada, Colorado, who was convicted of driving under the influence in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Pappas was convicted of refusing an official breath test, leading to a jail sentence of seven days as well as one year of unsupervised probation, a one-year ban on entering YNP, a fine of $750 and the payment of mandatory court costs.
An additional Yellowstone infraction was recently litigated. Joshua P. Carney, 40, of Marble Falls, Texas, was sentenced for a number of illegal acts in YNP, amounting to 90 days in jail and five years of probation.
The Attorney’s Office stated that Carney was originally cited in September for food storage violation and out-of-bounds camping. Then, on Oct. 8, he was sentenced to pay fines and was placed on two years of unsupervised probation along with a two-year ban from YNP.
Carney was found in YNP on Nov. 25, violating the terms of his probation. He was arrested and charged with camping without a permit, a food storage violation and an illegal fire. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Then, on Dec. 8, Carney was again located in the park, leading to his arrest. He was charged additionally for camping without a permit, abandoning property and resisting arrest. The next day, he pleaded guilty to violating his probation, camping without a permit, having an illegal fire and resisting arrest.
