Troy man plans to appeal prison sentence in grizzly killing incident

A Troy man who pleaded guilty to charges related to the killing of a grizzly bear and was sentenced last week said he plans to appeal.

Othel Lee Pearson, 80, pleaded guilty in February to evidence tampering and failing to report the taking of a grizzly bear, a threatened and protected animal under the Endangered Species Act.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Pearson was sentenced on Tuesday, June 11, to two months in prison and fined $10,000, by U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy.

Molloy further ordered Pearson to serve four months of home confinement after his incarceration, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In addition, the court ordered Pearson to forfeit a .270 Winchester bolt-action rifle with a scope that he used to kill the grizzly bear and was seized from his residence. The court allowed Pearson to self-report to prison.

Pearson spoke to The Western News Monday and said he felt disrespected by Judge Molloy.

“I’ve never been talked to the way Judge Molloy talked to me,” Pearson said. “I feel they’d rather pick my corpse and my wife’s corpse up instead of the bear.”

Pearson hasn’t had to report to jail yet and said he plans to appeal his sentence.

A plea agreement filed in the case called for the government and defendant to jointly recommend to the court a sentence of three years of probation and an $8,000 fine, which is the restitution amount for illegally killing a grizzly bear under Montana state statute. 

“I gave my information to the U.S. Marshall’s Office, but I haven’t heard where or when. There was discussion of going to Sheridan, Oregon, or the county jails in Missoula or Mineral counties,” Pearson said.

Pearson said he acted in self defense. 

“I measured it at 6 feet, 6 inches,” Pearson said. “After I shot it, I didn’t know what to do so I cut it up and put it in the freezer.”

Pearson also gave The Western News a copy of a court document his attorney, Sarah M. Lockwood, at Tipp Coburn Lockwood, PC, presented to Judge Molloy prior to sentencing.

In it, the attorneys argued the plea deal should be followed because Pearson is a first-time offender and led a law-abiding life prior to the grizzly shooting. Among other items, it talks about Pearson coaching youth sports, working as a college professor, his status as a family man who raised four successful children with his wife of 62 years, Marcia.

It also offered he took his grandkids on outdoor adventures during the summer as his son, a physician, suffers from late-stage multiple sclerosis, and that the couple cared for their grandson when a daughter was diagnosed with cancer.

It includes a letter in his employment file from Round Valley High School, Arizona, dated Dec. 1, 1966. It proclaims, “Mr. Pearson proved himself to be a one-in-a-thousand teacher that we are all looking for.”

It also mentions an incident in the Sierra Nevada mountains where Pearson helped his wife exit an off-grid cabin fire, using a rope to lower her from a second-story window.

It also argued Pearson’s criminal acts, “were not borne of premeditation or malice, but out of fear and ignorance of the responsibilities he owed to the community upon killing a protected species. Othel has never been one to turn to the government for help with things that happen on his private property.

Pearson now lives in Troy. 

Pearson faced a maximum sentence of 20 years for witness tampering while six months is the maximum term for failing to report the taking of a grizzly. Total fines could have reach $275,000.

In exchange for guilty pleas, the United States will agree not to prosecute another individual in connection with the taking of the grizzly bear and Pearson agrees to cooperate with the United States regarding the skull of a second grizzly bear discovered on Kootenai National Forest lands near his property.

Federal law says someone killing a grizzly bear must report it within five days of the incident.

“As alleged, Pearson discarded a GPS collar on a grizzly bear and hid the bear’s claws and an ear tag in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution for unlawfully killing a grizzly bear. Such conduct is illegal and, as shown here, will result in the prosecution of a federal felony,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. 

The investigation began Nov. 23, 2020, after a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Game Warden contacted U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Special Agent Mona Iannelli about a dead female grizzly that was dumped on Pipe Creek Road a few miles south of Yaak.

In the affidavit of probable cause, Iannelli wrote that the sow bear had been killed elsewhere and dumped where it was discovered. She reported the animal had been partially skinned and was missing two quarters and paws. She also saw tire tracks and boot tracks, believed to be related to the incident, at the scene.

Iannelli learned the bear had been microchipped, fitted with a GPS collar, two white, button-style ear tags and a lip tattoo for identification. The collar was missing, but was later found in the Yaak River. The ear tags and lip tattoo had also been cut from the bear.  

A little more than a week later, on Dec. 2, 2022, a biologist with the Fish & Wildlife Service found the missing GPS collar submerged in the Yaak River along Yaak River Road and retrieved it the next day. The collar was cut and GPS functionality destroyed. 

Despite the loss of its function, federal biologists were still able to download data from the collar, including location tracking, activity sensor data and temperature sensor data. That information indicated the bear died at about 8:55 p.m. on Nov. 19, 2020, about 40 yards from Pearson’s house, on his property outside Troy.

Federal wildlife biologist Wayne Kasworm confirmed the bear was killed in the Yaak where Pearson used to live.

When Special Agent Iannelli and other law enforcement served a search warrant at Pearson’s residence on Dec. 16, 2020, the defendant denied knowledge of the killing.

According to the charging document, the search turned up a treasure trove of evidence.

Agents found red snow on the ground, about 30 yards from what was described as a “shooting room” which was attached to Pearson’s residence. The windows were removed to allow a person to shoot at wildlife from within the room. They opened out to various baiting sites, within close shooting distance, on Pearson’s property.

The search also uncovered numerous items associated with baiting wildlife on the property. They included multiple empty bags of deer feed, feed dispensers hanging from trees, salt block stations and a spent .270 caliber rifle cartridge in the shed.

Agents also found blood and tissue samples at Pearson’s residence and a bag of meat from Pearson’s freezer, labeled, “Ham.” Forensic analysis later revealed it all belonged to the bear that was killed.

In addition, on the day of the search, a neighbor told agents that Pearson had told him he shot the bear with his .270 rifle. Agents collected a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight, .270 caliber bolt-action rifle.

About 17 months later, more evidence of the alleged, illegal kill turned up after someone hiking on Kootenai National Forest land next to Pearson’s land found a garbage bag containing grizzly bear parts hidden in a hollowed-out tree. The bag held 10 grizzly claws and an ear tag belonging to the same bear killed on Pearson’s property, according to the court document.