Judge Thompson accepts plea deal in Ted Nugent case

May 3, 2012

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Late last month the well-known musician Ted Nugent pled guilty to transporting an illegally killed black bear in Alaska. He made a plea deal with prosecutors which was accepted by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Thompson (Alaska).

Ted Nugent, his lawyer and Judge Thompson all agreed that they had never heard of the law which Nugent is accused of violating. The law states that once you wound a bear it counts toward the state seasonal limit of one bear. Mr. Nugent broke the law when he killed the second bear after wounding the first.

"It probably is not widely known, and if there is a side benefit to the agreement reached here today - since apparently newspapers are interested in Mr. Nugent and his doings - this probably will serve to alert a great many hunters to that very issue and may, in fact, prevent violations in the future and court activity for a whole slew of folks." - Judge Michael A. Thompson (Alaska)

The plea agreement agreed upon calls on Mr. Nugent to pay a $10,000 fine in addition to the $600 for the bear that was taken. He will also be banned from hunting and fishing in Alaska or on U.S. Forest Service properties for a year. He is required to broadcast public service announcements to raise awareness for others and hopefully preventing further violations.

Nugent apologized for the incident, saying “I would never knowingly break any game laws. I’m afraid I was blindsided by this, and I sincerely apologize to everyone for this.”