A Chinese national sentenced this week for illegal guide-outfitter operation he ran in Alaska will serve his time on supervised release for two years. Jun “Harry” Liang also agreed to turn over $73,000 and a luxury vehicle he owns.
According to court documents, beginning in August 2021, Liang, 41, and his co-conspirator Brian Phelan, 53, of Fairbanks, conspired to provide guide-outfitter services for caribou and brown bear hunts out of Fairbanks.
Neither defendant was licensed by the state of Alaska as a big game guide-outfitter.
During the 2022 hunting season, Liang collected $60,000 in advance payments from two undercover agents posing as non-resident hunters in exchange for guide-outfitter services for a brown bear hunt. The money was transferred to Liang’s account through wire transfer and deposited checks.
In August 2022, Liang and Phelan falsely informed the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that Phelan was the brother-in-law of the two undercover agents, which led the department to issue a non-resident brown bear permit and tag, not knowing the information was a lie.
On Sept. 20, 2024, Liang pleaded guilty to one count of Lacey Act false labeling, and additional violations for failing to obtain a special recreation permit and engaging in business in park areas without a permit in Denali National Park. As part of his sentence for the Lacey Action violation, Liang is also required to pay a $10,000 fine. For guiding without a license on Federal Land, he will pay over $9,000 in restitution to the Bureau of Land Management.
On Dec. 30, 2024, Phelan was sentenced to two and a half years’ probation and fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to two counts of violating a regulation for management, use and protection of BLM land, and one count of Lacey Act false labeling.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Alaska Region, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and IRS Criminal Investigation Service, Seattle Field Office, investigated the case.
