Three big game hunters in Idaho and Wyoming face felony wildlife charges for organizing illegal hunts in which each hunter charged more than $6,000 for the chance to roam the wilderness and kill a mountain lion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. It was announced on .
The hunting expedition was conducted without a permit and ended up killing at least a dozen mountain lions, also known as cougars, according to a federal indictment.
According to the Department of Justice, Chad Michael Kurow, Andrea Mae Major, and Lavoy Linton Eborn were indicted on conspiracy and Lacey Act charges. The Lacey Act is a federal conservation law that prohibits the trade in illegally harvested, transported, and sold wildlife, fish, and plants.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, Kulow, Major and Eborn are certified guides in the state of Idaho and are employed by a certified guide company. But the mountain lion hunts they accompanied were not part of the federally licensed equipment service for which they worked, prosecutors said.
โIn late 2021, Kulow, Major, and Eborn conspired to commit illegal acts in their capacity as outfitters, including individually booking mountain lion hunting customers in southeastern Idaho and Wyoming, accepting direct payments, and guiding them on hunts.โ โ and committed a violation of the Lacey Act,โ the Justice Department said.
According to court documents, mountain lions killed during hunting were illegally transported from national forest lands to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, Texas and North Carolina.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Lacey Act makes it illegal to sell, import or export illegal wild animals, plants, or fish throughout the United States. The law has an exception for people who are “licensed and authorized” by the department.
Trio booked, leading people on unauthorized hunts
Federal prosecutors said their clients booked trips with three others to the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Idaho and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. The hunt took place from December 2021 to January 2022.
Each hunter who hired the group paid between $6,000 and $65,000 for a hunt, according to court documents. Idaho Fish and Game requires that your guide license be accompanied by a licensed outfitter. Outfitters approve and manage hunting reservations.
According to prosecutors, the three men falsified the death report for the mountain lion they killed. According to the Department of Justice, Idaho Fish and Game officials require hunters to report the deaths of large animals. A licensed outfitter supervised the hunt, the report said.
The three men are scheduled to stand trial by jury in November. According to court records, Kurow is charged with 13 counts of Lacey Act violations, seven for Major and eight for Eborn.
If convicted, the three could face up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release for each violation.
Department of Justice pursues Lacey Act violations
The indictment announced Wednesday is the latest in a wave of Justice Department prosecutions of Lacey Act violations across the country.
This month, a Montana rancher was sentenced to six months in prison for creating hybrid sheep for hunting. Arthur “Jack” Schubart is behind bars after federal prosecutors say he cloned the Kyrgyz Marco Polo sheep.
In November 2023, a safari and ocelot enthusiast pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act. Bhagavan โDocโ Antle is known for starring in the hit Netflix documentary โTiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.โ
Contact reporter Crystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter).@KrystalRNurse.