Sunset over Prince of Wales Island, July 2019. (Photo by Angela Denning/KFSK)

Alaska State Troopers have cited a man from Idaho for allegedly faking an Alaska residency for five years while hunting on Prince of Wales Island.

According to a written statement by the Troopers, 68-year-old Richard Bigelow of Pocatello, Idaho had been purchasing Alaska resident hunting and fishing licenses from 2015 to 2019. During that time he harvested three black bear on P.O.W. Island using Alaska resident benefits.

Troopers had been investigating the case since March. They found that Bigelow had never established Alaska residency but was rather living in Idaho and claiming that residency as well.

Bigelow was arraigned October 5 in the Prince of Wales District Court on eight misdemeanor counts. They included five counts of false statement on an application for a hunt and fish license as well as three counts of big game tag violations.