Three big game hunters face federal felony charges for organizing rouge hunting trips in Idaho and Wyoming that resulted in the killing of at least a dozen mountain lions.
Chad Michael Kulow, Andrea May Major, and LaVoy Linton Eborn were charged with conspiracy and charges under the Lacey Act. USA Today Reports citing Justice Department documents. The Lacey Act is a federal conservation law enacted to combat the illegal trade of wildlife, fish, and plants in the United States.
The three were charged Wednesday by federal prosecutors with charging hunters $6,000 to $6,500 to book trips to both the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Idaho and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming to hunt mountain lions, also known as cougars. . Although all were licensed guides in the State of Idaho and employed by a licensed and federally permitted outfitter, their hunting trips were conducted outside of permitted duties.
Idaho Fish and Game requires hunters to work only with licensed guides, who often work for outfitters who authorize and manage hunting reservations.
Following hunts conducted from December 2021 to January 2022, the carcasses of mountain lions were illegally transported from national forest land to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, Texas and North Carolina, according to court documents.
“In late 2021, Kulow, Major, and Eborn conspired to commit Lacey Act violations when they began unlawfully acting in their capacity as outfitters by independently booking mountain lion hunting clients, accepting direct payments, and guiding hunts in southeastern Idaho and Wyoming.” they conspired,” the Justice Department said in the court filing.
Three individuals are also accused of falsifying Big Game Killing Reports filed with Idaho Fish and Game by claiming that a licensed provider was inspecting the hunts.
Kulow faces a total of 13 charges for allegedly violating the Lacey Act, while Major faces seven and Eborn faces eight. The trio will appear before a jury in November and, if convicted, face five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of probation for each violation.