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Three of the High On Life men have been charged with another crime in relation to their May romp on Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park.
According to K2 Radio, three of the defendants (Charles Ryker Gamble, Alexy Andrioyovych Lyakh, and Justis Cooper Price-Grown) were charged October 7 with one count of “taking a motion picture or television recording without a permit.” The National Park Service alleges the defendants were using photo and video of Yellowstone for promotional/commercial purposes. The charge is a misdemeanor.
The fourth defendant in this case, Hamish McNab Campbell Cross, was apparently not involved in photographing or videotaping without a permit.
UPDATE: We should clarify: you’re free to take as many photos and videos of Yellowstone National Park (and other national parks) as you please—as long as you don’t plan to use it for commercial purposes and/or obtain it by entering prohibited areas such as off designated boardwalks and in wildlife zones.
The announcement follows news in late September that Gamble was charged with flying a drone in Mesa Verde National Park—another misdemeanor. According to K2 Radio, Gamble will plead guilty to that charge November 3 in federal court in Durango, Colorado.
As a brief refresher: in May 2016, four men associated with the British Columbia company High On Life Sunday Fundayz were seen walking off the boardwalk in Midway Geyser Basin, taking photo and video of themselves on Grand Prismatic Spring. Outcry was immediate and trenchant, and Yellowstone officials quickly announced federal arrest warrants for the quartet. The men each face misdemeanor charges—punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.
The men returned to Canada shortly after charges were announced, and shortly after the men’s other escapades surfaced. Earlier this summer, the group emerged from obscurity, hiring a lawyer and engaging in a series of phone conferences with U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman at the Yellowstone Justice Center in Mammoth.
After months of back-and-forth, Carman agreed to drop the warrants in exchange for the quartet’s cooperation in returning to Yellowstone to face charges. The men are scheduled to appear in Yellowstone November 1.
