Treasure Hunter Who Got Lost in Yellowstone Must Repay Cost of Rescue
By Isabella Grullón Paz and Claire Fahy
Published Nov. 11, 2021 / Updated Nov. 12, 2021
Mark Lantis had to be airlifted by helicopter while searching for treasure buried by the eccentric art collector Forrest Fenn. Three courts have said he has to pay a $2,880 fine.In August 2018, Mark Lantis’s mother dropped him off at a trailhead at Yellowstone National Park to search for the buried treasure of an eccentric millionaire. But after going off trail and getting lost in the Wyoming backcountry, Mr. Lantis ended up in need of a helicopter airlift.
He ultimately did not find the treasure, but he was charged with reckless disorderly conduct. After a hearing before a magistrate judge in 2019, Mr. Lantis was convicted and sentenced to five years of unsupervised probation. He was also banned for five years from Yellowstone National Park and ordered to pay a $2,880 fine to cover the cost of the rescue.
Mr. Lantis, a former oil-field worker in his 40s, appealed the verdict in U.S. District Court in Wyoming by arguing that the legal definition of recklessness did not apply to his case. When that court upheld the ruling, he appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Last week, the appellate court also upheld his conviction, concluding that Mr. Lantis “consciously disregarded a known risk” when he decided to search for the treasure buried by the millionaire, Forrest Fenn
“I’m going to keep fighting, I’ll tell you that,” Mr. Lantis said in an interview on Thursday. Mr. Lantis, who is unemployed and has been represented by public defenders since the start of the case, said that he was aware that to keep fighting the charge might cost him legal fees, but that he hoped another public defender would be assigned to the case.
He's already Qualified for public defenders, where do they think he has the Money to Pay ?
Continued https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/us/treasure-hunter-yellowstone.html
