Unauthorized Yellowstone park guide sentenced for illegal activities
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — “Explore Yellowstone Like a Local” is how Teddy Garland touted his personally-guided trips into the nation’s oldest national park. He’ll have to suspend operations for a while in order to serve out a ban from entering Yellowstone National Park after he was found guilty on 7 counts of illegal activity including trespassing, providing unauthorized tours, violating swimming closures, creating hot pots on rivers, and disturbing wildlife.
Garland’s social media postings were his own undoing. Several photographs were more than enough evidence to convict the 60-year-old Oklahoma man on several counts as he appeared in front of Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park on July 2 for sentencing.
Garland was charged with 15 counts of illegal activities and violating national park regulations. After hearing the evidence at a bench trial held on April 7 and 8, Judge Carman found Garland guilty on seven counts.
At sentencing, the government requested that Garland be imprisoned for 30 days, served concurrently, on all counts; pay a fine of $750 for each count; make a Community Service Payment of $750 for each count; five years of unsupervised probation; and that he receive a ban from Yellowstone National Park for five years.
Judge Mark Carman sentenced Garland on the seven counts, resulting in a seven-day jail sentence; a total of $600 in fines and fees; a one-time payment of $500 to Yellowstone Forever Geological Resource Fund; and a ban from Yellowstone National Park until December 31, 2021.
He was also ordered to write an introduction/forward to his guidebook communicating respect for the park and removing references of illegal activity by July 16, 2021. Garland will serve five years of unsupervised probation and shall “not promote violations of laws in the national parks in any way.”
Acting United States Attorney Bob Murray said, “Enforcing federal criminal laws for the protection of our national parks’ resources will always remain a priority of the United States Attorney’s office in Wyoming. That is especially true when a criminal motivated by greed, like Mr. Garland, encourages others to commit more crimes and cause more damage to the treasures of America’s first national park.”
The case was handled by the National Park Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Hambrick.
