Outdoornews
June 9, 2021
ST. PAUL, Minn. A Brainerd, Minn., man was sentenced in federal court today for wildlife trafficking and trespassing on Indian land after removing the head of a 700-pound black bear on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Brett James Stimac, 39, was sentenced by Judge Susan Richard Nelson to 15 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and a $9,500 fine.
According to court documents, on the evening of Sept. 1, 2019, Stimac, who is not an enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, willfully, knowingly and without authorization or permission, entered the Red Lake Indian Reservation for the purposes of hunting a bear. The Government contends that Stimac, using a compound bow, shot and killed a large American black bear near the Reservation’s garbage dump.