Canadians plead guilty to violations at parks across US West

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Three Canadians have been banned from federal lands for five years after pleading guilty to walking on a sensitive hot spring in Yellowstone National Park and other crimes at parks across the Western U.S.

Charles Gamble, Alexey Lyakh and Justis Price Brown pleaded guilty during a Thursday hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman at the Yellowstone Justice Center.

The men were from the group High on Life SundayFundayz.

An investigation last spring into the group's travels revealed violations of park rules at Yellowstone, Zion, Death Valley and Mesa Verde national parks and Utah's Corona Arch and Bonneville Salt Flats.

Gamble's attorney, Alex Rate, says his client and friends have been threatened and shamed on social media for what amounted to making bad decisions on a road trip.