Theodore Eugene Garland, Unauthorized Tour Guide, Wyoming 2021

A 60-year-old Oklahoma man has been sentenced for his role in operating an unauthorized guided tour business within Yellowstone National Park.

Theodore Eugene Garland, of Edmond, Oklahoma, was sentenced on July 2, 2021, in front of Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Garland was found guilty on seven counts of violating national park regulations, including providing unauthorized guided tours, trespassing on thermal grounds, violating swimming closures and cliff jumping, and disturbing wildlife.

According to the government, Garland had a social-media page, a podcast, and a guidebook that promoted his tours in Yellowstone National Park, which often violated park closures and other regulations.

At sentencing, the government requested that Garland be imprisoned for 30 days, served concurrently, on all counts; pay a fine of $750 for each count; make a Community Service Payment of $750 for each count; five years of unsupervised probation; and that he receive a ban from Yellowstone National Park for five years.

However, Judge Carman sentenced Garland to a seven-day jail sentence; a total of $600 in fines and fees; a one-time payment of $500 to Yellowstone Forever Geological Resource Fund; and a ban from Yellowstone National Park until December 31, 2021.

Garland was also ordered to write an introduction/forward to his guidebook communicating respect for the park and removing references of illegal activity by July 16, 2021. He will serve five years of unsupervised probation and shall “not promote violations of laws in the national parks in any way,” the court ordered.

The case was handled by the National Park Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Hambrick.

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