COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A Colorado Springs man who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor poaching charges in three counties likely will never legally hunt again in Colorado or 47 other states after a Colorado Parks and Wildlife hearing examiner permanently suspended his hunting privileges.
Iniki Vike Kapu, 28, had been accused by Colorado Parks and Wildlife of illegally killing 12 deer, 2 turkeys and a bighorn sheep ram across the region.
Kapu entered one guilty plea in December 2019 in 4th Judicial District Court in Teller County.
Then in February 2020, Kapu appeared in the 11th Judicial District Court in Fremont County and pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a bighorn sheep. He also pleaded guilty to illegal possession of three or more big game animals.
A few days later, as part of the plea agreement, Kapu was fined $4,600 and sentenced to six months in jail and three years supervised probation in Fremont County.
Kapu forfeited all the weapons he used in the poaching incidents.
But that didn’t end his punishment. Last week, CPW hearing examiner Steven Cooley issued his decision permanently suspending Kapu’s hunting privileges.
“Mr. Kapu’s crimes against wildlife are the essence of what defines a poacher by taking wildlife without regard for the laws protecting them,” Cooley wrote in his decision.
“Iniki Kapu is viewed as a serious threat to Colorado’s wildlife and his violations are among the worst. The severity and level of indifference for wildlife in this case are rarely seen and cannot be tolerated.”
And because Colorado is a member of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, Kapu’s lifetime hunting ban extends to the other 47 states that are members of the compact. Only Hawaii and Massachusetts are not yet members of the compact.
“Let this be a warning to anyone out there who
