The police chief of Glendive, Montana is dealing with three felony fees for illegally possessing sport after searching on tribal lands with out a license after which tampering with witnesses in the course of the subsequent investigation. The Montana Legal professional Normal’s Workplace says that Jeremy Lee Swisher fabricated particulars round deer searching the Fort Peck Reservation with out a license after which inspired others to deceive investigators, in keeping with a report within the Daily Montanan.
The costs stem from hunts that occurred a number of years earlier than Swisher turned police chief of the small japanese Montana city. In line with court documents, Swisher labored in regulation enforcement in Louisiana and moved to Montana for the searching alternatives it provided. He turned police chief of Glendive in January 2023.
Swisher made feedback about his love for searching and fishing in Montana throughout his hiring course of the place he met with the neighborhood and answered questions in a public discussion board. The occasion was dwell streamed on Fb the place it was seen by Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks investigator Steve Marx.
Marx discovered that Swisher had no report of buying a searching or fishing license in Montana.
As soon as Swisher turned chief, he bragged about three Montana mule deer bucks he’d killed and talked about how he didn’t want a license to hunt tribal lands since he had connections with tribal members on the Fort Peck Reservation. He went on to hold up the three mule deer Euro mounts within the Glendive police station.
Investigators finally questioned Swisher in regards to the deer and he acknowledged that he had hunted on the Fort Peck Reservation after a tribal sport warden informed him he didn’t want a license to take action. Swisher stated that he had confirmed this with a number of Montana sport wardens and a “Federal man” however refused to call his contacts.
Investigators discovered no report of Swisher holding a tribal searching license and realized that, in actual fact, the tribe doesn’t concern deer licenses to non-members. They had been additionally knowledgeable by tribal sport wardens that non-members usually are not allowed to legally hunt deer on the Fort Peck Reservation — even when they’re invited by a tribal member. Investigators acquired a warrant to grab the three mule deer racks on July 20, 2023.
Because the investigation continued, Swisher urged others to cowl for him, in keeping with the allegations made by the legal professional common’s workplace. This included tribal member Greg Brugh Jr. and Lenny Boxer, who initially informed investigators that they’d in actual fact shot the mule deer and gifted the racks in addition to a whitetail rack to Swisher. Additionally they stated that Swisher was not with them when the deer had been killed.
However then, in October 2023, investigators obtained a search warrant for Boxer’s Google account and located that he had deleted 498 footage on September 29, 2023, simply three days after he was initially interviewed by them. Boxer didn’t delete all of the pictures from these earlier hunts, and investigators discovered three pictures of Swisher posing with the mule deer bucks in query. The pictures had been dated December 2021. Ultimately, Boxer confessed that Swisher had killed the bucks in any case.
The photograph search additionally confirmed a deputy sheriff from Louisiana named Lindsey Miller posing with a separate mule deer buck. Courtroom data say that in the course of the investigation, Swisher referred to as Miller, instructing her to not communicate with investigators, however that she finally informed investigators that she had hunted with Swisher and Boxer on the reservation and believed they’d permission to take action. Miller stated she was “very pissed that the Defendant put her on this predicament,” in keeping with court docket paperwork.
It’s unclear if any fees are being introduced towards Miller, Boxer, or Brugh Jr, however Swisher faces three felony fees for illegal possession, transport, or transportation of sport animals and tampering with witnesses. His court docket date is about for July 9.
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“The Defendant both relied on what his buddies had been telling him and didn’t verify into it, or knew what he was doing was unlawful and figured he wouldn’t get caught,” the court docket paperwork learn. “Both method, the Defendant was by no means licensed to legally kill these mule deer bucks. As a substitute of proudly owning as much as a maybe comprehensible misapprehension of the regulation, the Defendant allegedly doubled down and received his buddies to cowl for him by making up a special story.”
