Rack found in felon's possession would be Montana record
07-24-2005, 04:43 PM
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Rack found in felon's possession would be Montana record
Almost lost in the far-more-serious charges that Kelly Frank faced in the alleged plot to kidnap nighttime TV host David Letterman's young son and his nanny was the fact that the Simms man had a huge mule deer buck rack illegally in his possession.
Part of the plea agreement made with Frank was an admission of guilt to felony possession of wildlife.
Frank, a convicted felon, had been hired to do painting work on Letterman's ranch, near Choteau. He was arrested in March after telling an acquaintance that he planned to abduct Letterman's then 16-month-old son and the boy's nanny and hold them for 48 hours while demanding $5 million in ransom from Letterman.
During the investigation, an informant in the case told authorities that Frank had poached a huge buck sometime over the winter after the hunting season was closed. While Frank maintained that someone else shot the deer, he did admit to possessing the illegal trophy.
It turns out that had it been taken legally, the mule deer buck would have been a new Montana state record, scoring 207-7/8 points under the Boone and Crockett Club's measuring system. The current state record is 205-3/8 from a buck taken in 1983.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks information officer Bruce Auchly, at Great Falls, reported that Teton County Attorney Joe Coble explained, "While executing a search warrant in the solicitation (of a kidnapping) case, police saw the antlers."
As a result, Frank was charged with felony possession of wildlife. It was deemed a felony because of the trophy size of the deer, which puts its value at $8,000 under state law.
Coble indicated that he would seek the maximum punishment for the wildlife violation.
Coble said, "I going to ask for five years jail time, $8,000 reimbursement to the state and lifetime revocation of his hunting and fishing privileges."
Prosecutors in the case dropped an attempted kidnapping charge as part of the agreement. But the agreement still calls for a 10-year sentence on the theft charge, which accused Frank of overcharging Letterman between $1,000 and $1,500 for painting.
It also calls for a six-month sentence on the obstruction charge, for lying to investigators, and five years on the wildlife possession charge. The latter two sentences would be served concurrent to the 10-year term.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 13 in Choteau, though it may take place earlier.
