CASPER, Wyo. (AP) – Three of the four defendants with the Vancouver, B.C.-based High On Life/SundayFundayz who illegally walked on the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park in May were charged recently with another crime committed that same day, according to federal court records.
The three—Charles Gamble, Alexy Lyakh, and Justis Price-Brown—each were charged on Oct. 7 with one count of taking a motion picture or television recording without a permit.
National Park Service rules allow people to take pictures for their own enjoyment. But the Park Service requires businesses and certain other groups to obtain permits to record images for commercial purposes. Violating the permit requirement is a misdemeanor.
KTWO-AM reports the new charges are in addition to those filed after they filmed signs telling people to stay on the boardwalk and then walked on the Grand Prismatic Spring. That violated rules about not leaving boardwalks and causing “a hazardous or physically offensive condition.” Their actions damaged the sensitive bacterial mat of the spring.
They posted the video on their website, which promotes their adventures and a clothing line. After the incident garnered international outrage, they issued an apology and took down their website until early July.
The three are scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman in the federal courthouse in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, on Nov. 1, according to court records.
That is also the day the three and Hamish McNab Campbell Cross are scheduled to appear for their initial appearances and arraignments on the charges of walking on the spring. If convicted, they each face up to six months imprisonment and/or a $5,000 fine.
Two days after that hearing, Gamble will plead guilty in federal court in Durango, Colo., to operating a drone in Mesa Verde National Park, according to the court records filed in Colorado U.S. District Court. Operating a drone is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months imprisonment and/or a $5,000 fine.
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