Man Pleads Guilty to Wildlife Violations

OXFORD, Miss. – Felicia C. Adams, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, Luis Santiago, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and Steve Adcock , Chief of Law Enforcement for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, announced that:

Pass Taylor, Jr., 78, of Sidon, Mississippi, plead guilty on December 3, 2012 before United States Magistrate Judge David A. Sanders, in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Taylor pled guilty to five counts of a 30-count Information, charging him with various wildlife violations including the illegal placement of bait on a commercial dove field, providing commercially guided duck hunts on Matthews Brake National Wildlife Refuge, and aiding and abetting other hunters in the taking of ducks in excess of the daily bag limit during a commercially guided duck hunt.

Following his guilty plea, Taylor was ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $5,000.00 and was further ordered to pay restitution to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks in the amount of $5,000.00. In addition to the fine and restitution, Taylor was placed on probation for a period of 18 months. The court further ordered as a condition of his probation that Taylor be banned from hunting in any manner or any location for a period of 18 months and that he be banned from entering any Federal Wildlife Refuge or Preserve for a period of five years.

United States Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent in Charge Luis Santiago stated that: “We take our mission working with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks and the citizens of Mississippi in conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats very seriously, investigating those who choose to violate state and federal laws. They undermine the proud tradition of fair chase for all hunters.”

This case was investigated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, the National Wildlife Refuge Division of Law Enforcement and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Mims.