Stolen branch on Yellowstone visitor’s SUV leads ranger to more illegal cargo, feds say

A Yellowstone National Park ranger was checking out a vehicle for illegal natural resources — and instead found a bag full of drugs, federal court documents said.

A 2008 Chevy Tahoe in the Mammoth Hot Springs area had a large tree branch with pine cones and another tree branch strapped to the back on a cargo carrier, court documents filed Aug. 19 said. Because it is illegal to collect or take natural resources from the park, park ranger Jill Paxton started investigating the incident which occurred on July 15.

James Izell, the owner of the car, told park rangers he had “meant to put it back inside before I got here to the National Park,” and said he had been traveling to many different national parks in the West, according to court documents.

He was about 2 1/2 weeks into a three-week trip when Izell got stopped in Yellowstone National Park, according to court documents. He had already visited national parks in Texas, Badlands, Petrified, Grand Canyon and several others.

The park ranger asked Izell, who said he was from Texas, if she could search his car to look for more natural resources.

“Izell consented and noted he had ‘sugar pines’ in the back of his vehicle which would be visible if he opened the back window,” court documents said. “Izell stated ‘not a single thing have I gotten from any parks.’”

Park rangers found large pine cones that appeared to be taken from Redwood and Sequoia national parks on top of a suitcase in the trunk, court documents stated.

Rangers asked Izell if there were weapons in the vehicle, and Izell said there was a handgun in the driver’s side door. When the park ranger looked in the door, she found a collection of rocks — and smelled marijuana, the federal court documents said.

That smell led Paxton to investigate the vehicle more. She found a bag of marijuana, a plastic grinder, a “hand-rolled cigarette of marijuana and a pack of ‘RAW’ rolling paper,” according to documents.

Izell said he had bought the weed “in a state where it is legal,” court documents said, but possession of marijuana is illegal in Yellowstone National Park.

Another park ranger then told Paxton he had found a black duffel bag in the back of the vehicle that had marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms inside, according to the documents.

Inside the vehicle was a vape pen that contained THC, a large duffel bag with more than 7 pounds of weed and 1 pound of mushrooms, $5,000 in 100-dollar bills and two handguns. Rangers also found 10 large pine cones, five pine cones with seeds, five large pieces of petrified tree, 63 rocks, a black and blue feather and a live plant with roots still attached, according to court documents.

Izell faces charges for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, according to the federal court documents. He could face up to five years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

An attorney for Izell was not listed in court documents.