Kenai District Court has charged a former Cooper Landing fishing guide who allegedly stole money from dozens clients after failing to provide all-inclusive fishing trips he'd sold them on eBay.
Thomas W. Murray, 35, owner of Wise Guide Outfitters of Cooper Landing, was charged Dec. 8 with four counts of second-degree theft and one count each of scheme to defraud, unsworn falsification and false information on a fishing license. The charges of theft and the scheme to defraud are felonies.
When Murray did provide trips, he failed to pay other businesses for their services, including lodges, a fishing charter operation and sport fishing guides, wildlife investigators allege. Murray, a resident of Cedar Hills, Utah, owes those businesses more than $27,000 for services provided in 2010.
The investigation began after the investigations unit received a complaint in late 2010. The Alaska Department of Revenues Criminal Investigations Unit and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources assisted the investigation.
Murray is scheduled for arraignment in Kenai District Court at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Scheme to defraud could bring up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $100,000 fine. Second-degree theft could bring up to five years in prison and a maximum $50,000 fine.
Here's an outdoors forum that includes comments from posters who say they were ripped off by Wise Guide Outfitters.
Alaska Dispatch Publishing