Press Release
Guilty Verdict in Case of Unpermitted Snowboard-Instruction Business on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Within the Inyo National Forest
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — After a one–day bench trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston found Jason E. Murchison, 37, of Huntington Beach, guilty today of one count of operating an unpermitted business on National Forest land, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to evidence presented at trial, Murchison operated an unpermitted snowboard-instructing service on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, within the Inyo National Forest. In February 2020, an undercover operation revealed that Murchison was the principal operator of Learn to Snowboard and advertised paid lessons on a website www.learntosnowboardbb.com. Neither Learn to Snowboard nor Murchison had a special use authorization from the U.S. Forest Service to operate on Forest Service lands.
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service and the Newport Beach Police Department. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip N. Tankovich Assistant and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Spivak prosecuted the case.
The charge is a class B misdemeanor, and immediately after trial, Judge Thurston sentenced Murchison to two years of probation and a fine of $500. A restitution hearing is scheduled for July 21.
Updated June 3, 2021
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