Slap on the Wrist for Washington State Serial Poacher

While the cards were certainly stacked against Jason Smith after he was charged with 32 criminal counts, including two felonies, 27 gross misdemeanors, and three misdemeanors relating to wildlife crimes committed between 2021 and 2022, he somehow came out smelling like f*cking roses.

After being accused of poaching 13 animals around his home including deer, elk and a sow black bear and her cubs, the 29-year-old also was accused of hunting during closed seasons, hunting over the bag limit, retrieving animals from private property without permission, and leaving game meat to rot.

Given the slew of crimes, Smith was facing upwards of 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines for the combined felony charges. Tack on additional 364 days of jail time for each of the 27 gross misdemeanor charges and with 90 days for each of his three misdemeanors with potentially tens of thousands of more in fines and this guy really should have been done for.

But he wasn’t.

Rather than throw the book at him after his escapades were foiled by his braggadocious posting to social media, he’s received barely a slap on the wrist for his egregious crimes.

On June 7th, the Washington Department of Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that Smith had been sentenced to 80 hours of community service and an $8,000 by a King’s County judge. 

“Smith attempted to portray himself as a type of outdoor celebrity, using social media to boast - when in reality, there was nothing ethical about his actions,” said WDFW Captain Dan Chadwick. “I commend our Officers’ hard work and ingenuity in completing this case. They are committed to ensuring safe and ethical opportunities while conserving our big game natural resources. We’d also like to thank the King County Prosecutors Office and the Attorney Generals Office Environmental Protection Division for their work on this case.”

While there certainly seems to be a consensus in the outdoor community that these types of crimes are often under-punished. With criminals like Smith getting off virtually scot-free, it can seem as though those of us operating within the laws tend to get the slap in the face the criminal deserves.

With many wildlife agencies across the country rallying for harsher penalties, one excuse that seems to be used quite often is the detachment prosecutors and judges have from cases like these. It’s said that considering their familiarity with crimes such as theft, rape and murder, there could be some leniency for wildlife criminals as many believe they may not view these cases through the same lens of scrutiny.

So while it seems as though our friends at state wildlife agencies are doing all they can to stack the cards against wildlife criminals, until we get some more folks behind the bench with some experience in the outdoors, this trend will unfortunately continue.