After an eight-year investigation that stretched across four states, Wyoming wildlife officials have brought down one of their state’s most audacious poaching and residency fraud operations. At its center was Sean Thomas, a Farson outfitter who, along with his family and a circle of out-of-state clients, spent years faking Wyoming residency to secure cheap hunting tags and illegally take elk, deer, pronghorn, black bears, and more.
The case ended quietly but firmly last month, when Sean Thomas received the final sentence in a Sweetwater County courtroom. In all, ten people were convicted, paying more than $30,000 in fines and $33,300 in restitution, while losing hunting privileges for a combined total of over half a century—including a 20-year ban for their fearless ringleader.
The Allure of Resident Tags
Where most states ask for a simple 90-days worth, Wyoming demands a full year of continuous residency before anyone can buy a resident hunting or fishing license - one of the strictest in the country. The payoff of living full-time in the Cowboy State, however, is substantial. A nonresident elk tag with fishing privileges costs $692; but a resident only pays $57. Deer drops from $374 to $42, antelope from $326 to $37 and even a yearly fishing license falls from $102 to $27.
On top of the savings, residents get far better odds in limited-quota draws, especially in the trophy-rich deserts and mountains of southwest Wyoming. For out-of-state hunters willing to bend the truth, the temptation can be irresistible.
Operating through Great Basin Outfitters, Sean Thomas made it easy by helping his clients from Minnesota and Utah swear false oaths, list Farson addresses that weren’t theirs, and even claim vacation homes as permanent residences. What started as a shortcut to cheaper tags soon snowballed into a full-blown poaching enterprise.
Eight Years in the Making
The investigation began by accident in 2017 during an unrelated case and an anonymous tip the following year turned it serious. For the next three years, game wardens gathered evidence, interviewed witnesses, and built an airtight file.
On July 15, 2021, the hammer fell. Wyoming wardens, backed by colleagues from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Utah, executed search warrants at homes and the outfitter’s property. They walked away with mounted heads, frozen meat, black-bear pelts, skulls, carcasses and a .300 WSM Browning rifle that would later be forfeited.
More than 30 counts of false statements emerged just from the license fraud alone. Beneath that lay a darker tally that included illegal takes of bull and cow elk, buck and doe pronghorn, mule deer, black bears, bobcats, even a calf elk deliberately run down with a vehicle.
The Defendants
In the end, all ten defendants in the case ended up accepting plea deals. Sean Thomas, who was arrested in November 2024 and released on a $2,000 bond, faced the heaviest consequences. He pleaded guilty to nine counts, including one false statement, five counts of accessory to illegal takes, wanton destruction, and killing a calf elk with a motor vehicle. His sentence included 365 days in jail (325 suspended, 40 to serve with one day credit), $9,070 in fines ($7,070 suspended), $6,000 in restitution, 36 months of unsupervised probation, and a 20-year loss of hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges.
His wife Kristine, brother Wesley, and son Taylor also received suspended jail time, steep fines (most suspended), and hunting bans ranging from one to five years. Wesley and Taylor each were ordered to pay thousands in restitution.
Michael Jordan and his sons Austin and Joseph, who had flown in for guided trips from Minnesota were also on the chopping block. Michael faced the stiffest client penalty which included $6,000 in restitution and a one-year hunting suspension. His sons served two days each in jail and paid fines and restitution totaling $8,070 combined.
Two Utah men, Roger Thomas and David Pehrson, rounded out the list with fines, restitution, and short license suspensions, while local Rock Springs resident Tommie Mount paid $1,040 for six false oaths.
