How a drunken swim in Nevada's Devils Hole and a dead endangered pupfish led to a rare prosecution and prison sentence

I remember when the outrage about what these (as of then unidentified) guys had done made the news a few years ago but never heard what happened afterward. It's nice to finally find out how it was resolved, and that the men involved were remorseful for their actions, at least.

Interesting article and I especially enjoyed learning about the history of the National Park Service and the tangent about the water rights vs the endangered species act case. Some other interesting parts that really stood out to me too:

A team called the Scorpion Task Force was assembled.

“But he’s into OHVs and is always on Craigslist, so he decided to take a look.” Minutes later, Klenczar and Dillon found the vehicle on Craigslist. It had been listed for sale just one day prior to the drunken break-in. “The fact that the vehicle was so unique and that we were able to quickly find it on Craigslist was the one and only piece of this that allowed the case to move forward,” Dillon said.

I had assumed that the Sargent family would consider what happened to their son unfair. But I was wrong. In fact, they defended the Endangered Species Act with a conviction that surprised me, and they knew a lot about Devils Hole and the pupfish that swam there.

“I hate it,” Wilson told me this winter. “I hear from the public all of the time — ‘Why does this place look like a prison?’ People get really upset that they can’t get a closer look. But it’s just what we have to do — to stop people from doing stupid things.”

I was surprised at the part where the dude didn't even deny everything, and just explained everything, because he realized how bad his mistake was.