Man sentenced for unlawful sale of bighorn sheep skull

COEUR d'ALENE - A 36-year-old Spokane man was sentenced on Tuesday to serve four years in prison for selling a bighorn sheep skull without the appropriate Idaho Department of Fish and Game documentation.

Christopher J. Blair was sentenced by 1st District Court Judge John T. Mitchell, who ordered that Blair serve the first year fixed, with the final years indeterminate.

During the investigation it was revealed Blair was aware of the illegal nature of his conduct, the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release.

Blair's criminal history includes a felony burglary conviction, and misdemeanor convictions for theft, shoplifting, driving while suspended, and two DUIs. He also was sentenced twice for failure to comply relating to his DUI convictions.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said, "Blair demonstrated in his past and in this matter an inability or unwillingness to follow the law."

He said the selling of the sheep skull was the latest in a series of crimes starting in 2004.

"We hope that Judge Mitchell's sentence will convince Mr. Blair that further criminal conduct is not worth the imprisonment that will result from continuing the existing pattern," McHugh said.