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Poacher could wind up in prison Guide accused of trying to rig case against him By MARK FREEMAN A Jacksonville hunting guide faces more than two years in federal prison after his conviction on a federal poaching charge amid allegations of witness tampering and attempted jury rigging. A federal jury late Friday closed the books on the hunting career of Bill Danielson, 45, whom prosecutors called Oregon's most notorious hunting guide with one of the worst reputations among guides across the country, court papers state. Danielson was convicted on one federal wildlife charge for selling a Southern Oregon blacktail deer to a South Carolina man for $2,500 in 1995. The jury acquitted him on two other felony wildlife violations. All three charges alleged violations of the Lacey Act, which bans selling, buying or transporting across state lines any fish or wildlife taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of state law. Danielson, who has maintained his innocence, testified on his own behalf in the five-day trial. But "Dollar Bill" Danielson, as prosecutor Jeff Kent called him for his anything-for-a-buck attitude, could not talk his way out of the conviction, Kent said. "He was, shall we say, a man of many sides," Kent said. "There were so many complaints of him bringing Oregon hunting into disrepute that it was disgraceful." Danielson was immediately taken into custody by U.S. marshals. He remained in custody Monday at the Lane County Jail awaiting a July 12 sentencing in Eugene. A Lacey Act conviction carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. But Kent said federal sentencing guidelines indicate Danielson likely will face more than two years in prison, based on two former felony convictions on burglary and theft charges as well as recent allegations of witness tampering and jury rigging. Danielson allegedly attempted to intimidate witnesses for favorable testimony, Kent said. Kent said Danielson also asked a former tenant to pose as an author and attempt to form a relationship with one of the jurors, then try to persuade the juror into believing the government had a "Mickey Mouse" case against Danielson. But the former tenant instead cooperated with federal authorities and captured Danielson's plan on tape while wearing a hidden microphone, Kent said. "Quintessential Danielson -- trying to manipulate the system any way he could," Kent said. Kent said the U.S. Department of Justice could pursue charges against Danielson for these incidents. At minimum, though, they will help lengthen his sentence for Friday's conviction, Kent said. Danielson was originally indicted on federal wildlife charges in April 1998 after an Oregon State Police investigation into his guiding operation. Danielson's conviction stems from a charge involving a South Carolina man's 1995 hunting trip in Jackson County's Applegate area. The hunter had the required license and tag to kill one blacktail deer. The man shot one deer that could not be located, then he shot and tagged another deer, court records indicate. The first deer was then recovered, and Danielson sold it to the man for $2,500, Kent said. Of the charges on which he was acquitted, one alleged that Danielson helped an out-of-state doctor illegally kill a deer without proper license and tag. The other alleged that Danielson sold a set of trophy antlers to a California collector. But court papers filed in the case painted Danielson as a habitual and persistent violator of Oregon's hunting and guiding laws, logging the most complaints to the Oregon Guides and Packers Association. Despite convictions in 1973 for burglary and 1980 for theft, Danielson was able to use a quirk in the law to regain his right to carry a firearm under a ruling from a Gold Hill justice of the peace, Kent said. But Friday's conviction will ban him from carrying a weapon, said Kent, who also hopes it will close the books on his guiding career as well. "I'd hope he would never be allowed to guide again," Kent said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA