A former park ranger has pleaded not guilty to charges he illegally killed two big-game animals.
In 2nd District Court Monday, Richard Reed entered his not-guilty plea to misdemeanor charges of unlawful possession of protected wildlife and wanton destruction of protected wildlife in connection with the death of an antelope and mule deer on Antelope Island.Court documents say that in 1997 and 1998, Reed was involved in killing the two protected animals. Reed is a former employee of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation. He left the division in 1997 to take a wildlife conservation job in Wisconsin.
Utah Department of Natural Resources deputy director Marty Ott told the Deseret News that Reed was the focus of an internal investigation, launched after a citizen provided information about the animal's deaths.
While the misdemeanor charges remain, a third-degree felony witness tampering charge was dismissed Monday by 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin.
A pre-trial conference on the remaining charges is scheduled for June 12.