Plea agreements possible in Whites' case

A trial date in the state’s wildlife violations case against Twisp residents William and Tom White was continued to Feb. 13 following a status hearing Monday (Oct. 24) in Okanogan County District Court. 

The Whites also face trial in January in a federal case, which charges the Whites with shooting at least two endangered gray wolves. Tom’s wife, Erin, is also charged with smuggling in an attempt to ship a wolf pelt to Canada. Trial on the federal charges is set for Jan. 24 in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

David Gecas, Okanogan County deputy prosecuting attorney, said  “settlement negotiations in the cases had been on hold while the parties awaited a ruling on the defendants’ motions to dismiss the state cases.” 

In a decision issued last month, Okanogan District Court Judge Christopher Culp denied the Whites’ motions to suppress evidence in the state’s case. 

“Now that we have a ruling, the parties are making a final attempt to determine whether a settlement involving both the state and federal charges can be reached,” Gecas said.

Gecas said the defendants requested the trial date on state charges be continued until after the federal trial, “because of a belief that a plea agreement involving both the federal and state cases might be more likely now that the defendants’ motions to dismiss in the state cases were denied.”

A federal grand jury indictment issued in June charged Bill White and his son Tom with shooting at least two, and possibly as many as five, gray wolves from the Lookout Mountain gray wolf pack. The 12-count indictment resulted from an investigation that began in December 2008 following a botched attempt to smuggle a wolf pelt, which was discovered when blood began leaking from a package delivered to FedEx in Omak. The federal indictment includes charges related to killing endangered gray wolves and other wildlife violations.

State charges against both Bill and Tom White include hunting black bears out of season and illegal use of dogs to hunt black bears. Bill White is also charged with hunting black bears without a tag, hunting mule deer out of season, unlawfully transporting wildlife and providing false information. 

The Whites raise cattle and manage timber on a 600-acre ranch near Lookout Mountain, bordering forested land where a gray wolf pack was discovered in the summer of 2008.