AFTON, Wyoming — A years-long wildlife poaching investigation involving multiple counties in western Wyoming ended this fall with the sentencing of an Idaho Falls man who illegally obtained resident hunting licenses and killed trophy big game animals across the state.

Rodney Gilstrap was sentenced Sept. 24 in Lincoln County Circuit Court after losing an appeal challenging his earlier convictions.

The case began in 2019, when Afton Game Warden James Hobbs received anonymous tips that Gilstrap had been fraudulently claiming Wyoming residency to buy resident deer, elk, black bear, and fishing licenses while actually living and working in Idaho, according to a news release from the Wyoming Fish and Game Department.

Wyoming Game and Fish wardens, working with Idaho Fish and Game, launched a

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