Louisiana Hunting Outfitter Sentenced to Prison for First Felony Conviction for Illegally Hunting Protected Alligators

WASHINGTON – Gregory K. Dupont, 38, of Plaquemine, La., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La., to serve six months in prison, to be followed by four months in a half-way house and two years of supervised release.  Dupont was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine.  Dupont’s sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson late Thursday, was the first ever felony conviction and prison sentence resulting from the illegal hunting of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), in violation of the Lacey Act, the Endangered Species Act, and Louisiana law.

Dupont has owned and operated Louisiana Hunters Inc., a hunting outfitting company, since 2001.  His clients hired him to take them on alligator hunts in Louisiana, and they included out-of-state residents who were required to hunt with a licensed resident alligator hunter.  Dupont took some of the out-of-state clients to hunt alligators on property where he was not authorized to hunt.  On Feb.10, 2012, Dupont pleaded guilty to selling American alligators by providing outfitting and guiding services, knowing the alligators to have been taken illegally, on a hunt in September 2006. 

In 1967, American alligators were listed as an endangered species because the total population size in the United States reached drastically low numbers due to severe poaching and overharvesting.  The conservation effect of this protected status and of the Lacey Act, the Endangered Species Act, and regulations promulgated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state of Louisiana led to the recovery of the size of the American alligator population in the United States, and American alligators were down-listed to threatened status in 1987.  The success of the American alligator conservation program is second only to that of the Bald Eagle.

Because American alligators remain federally protected, alligator hunting is regulated by federal and state rules and regulations, which require, among other things, the tagging of all harvested alligators.  The integrity of the tagging system is crucial to Louisiana’s alligator management program because it enables the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to monitor harvest areas, alligator size and the number of alligators taken.  This system depends in significant part upon the honesty and self-regulation of Louisiana’s licensed hunters for its continued success.

In Louisiana, an allotted number of alligator hide tags are issued to licensed hunters.  Each tag may be used for one alligator only, and Louisiana law requires alligator hunters to hunt only on property for which hide tags are issued.  The areas where alligator hunting is permitted are determined on a yearly basis by wildlife biologists, whose decisions are based on the need to maintain a healthy alligator population.  If hunters poach alligators from areas for which they do not have tags, then the integrity of the entire alligator management system is undermined, thereby threatening Louisiana’s alligator population and alligator industry, which is a significant component of Louisiana’s economy.

According to court documents, Dupont, in violation of law, guided his clients to places in Louisiana, regardless of whether he had tags for the areas, where he hoped his clients would kill trophy-sized alligators so that they would pay him a trophy fee in addition to the guiding fees. 

The case was prosecuted by Shennie Patel and Susan L. Park of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana.  The case was investigated by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Law Enforcement Division and by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement.

Louisiana Brothers Plead Guilty and Are Sentenced for Knowingly Killing Protected Alligators

Alligator Guides Fined And Prohibited From Hunting Alligators For Three Years

WASHINGTON— Two Louisiana brothers  pleaded guilty today and were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La., for  Lacey Act violations for their role in illegally killing American Alligators in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act and Louisiana law, the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division announced. 

According to statements made in court, in October 2005 and in September 2006, Clint Martinez, 44, a licensed alligator hunter, and his brother, Michael Martinez, 47, a licensed alligator helper, guided out-of-state alligator sport hunters who were clients of an outfitter, to areas for which they did not have appropriate state authorization to hunt.  In October 2005, the sport hunter clients killed a 10 foot, two-inch trophy-sized alligator.  In September 2006, the sport hunter clients killed a 10 foot trophy-sized alligator and a 12 foot, six-inch trophy-sized alligator.

The Martinez brothers, both of Plaquemine, La., were sentenced to serve a three year term of probation during which they will be prohibited from hunting as follows: for one year of the probation the defendants will be prohibited from engaging worldwide in all hunting activities, including guiding, with any kind of weapon; for the remaining two years of probation the defendants will be prohibited from engaging worldwide in all commercial alligator hunting activities, including guiding.  In addition, each defendant will pay a $5,000 fine, serve 200 hours of community service, and publish a statement in a newspaper setting forth a brief summary of the offense and its potential penalties, and apologizing for their illegal conduct.

American Alligator hunting is a regulated commercial activity in the state of Louisiana due to severe over-hunting up until the 1960’s, resulting in a drastic population decline.  Specifically, the Endangered Species Act prohibits the taking of wild American Alligators unless in compliance with Louisiana’s laws and regulations.  Louisiana law requires hunters and helpers to hunt only on property for which alligator tags are issued by the state.  Each tag specifies an area where alligator hunting is to occur.  By law, licensed hunters and helpers are expected to know what the licensed alligator hunter’s hide tags provide, and hunt only in the area specified for each tag.  It is illegal to kill an alligator in an area for which the licensed hunter or helper does not have appropriate hide tags.  These regulations setting limitations on alligator hunting have allowed for the alligator population levels in Louisiana to rebound to sustainable levels.   

In addition to being listed as a threatened species on the U.S. list of Threatened and Endangered Species, the American alligator also is listed as a crocodilian species on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).  To better regulate trade in crocodilian species, the parties to CITES agreed to a program of requiring a uniquely numbered tag to be inserted into the skin of each animal immediately after it is killed.  The tag is to remain with the skin as it travels in interstate or international commerce until it is manufactured into a final consumer product.  The secretary of the Interior promulgated special rules for American alligators that implement the CITES tagging program and regulate the harvest of alligators within the United States. 

The case is being prosecuted by Shennie Patel and Susan Park of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  The case was investigated by the Law Enforcement Division of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement.