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Back in 2002, Lorenzo Baca filmed 30 minutes of American Indian ceremonial dances in Yosemite, riding on the claim that his video was for personal or educational use only. But it turned out Mr. Baca wasn’t telling the whole truth: Three years later, an eagle-eyed park service worker spotted Baca’s video for sale in one of Yosemite’s own gift shops. D’oh!
A federal judge found Baca guilty of trespassing on a cultural resource and doing business in the park without a permit. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and a year of unsupervised probation, and hopefully he’s fired his marketing department.
“Mr. Baca, I’ve got it! We’ll sell your illegally made video at the scene of the crime! No one will notice, and we’ll be rich — rich, I tells ya!”
— Ted Alvarez
Sonora filmmaker gets probation for taping American Indian dances