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CONDOR POACHER CHARGED
Jim Matthews-ONS
4/30/03
Condor poacher faces charges in federal court
Two months after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had a confession from a 29-year-old Tehachapi man in the shooting death of an endangered California condor, the U.S. attorney's office in Fresno filed a series of charges against Britton Cole Lewis Tuesday.
Besides the condor shooting, Lewis was also charged for illegally killing a whitetail deer in Illinois and its illegal interstate transport. If he receives the maximum charges for both crimes, Lewis could serve 1 1/2 years in jail and pay $115,000 or more in fines.
Lewis was charged under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the condor shooting, rather than under the Endangered Species Act. While the penalties are steeper under the ESA, a 1998 Justice Department policy would require that Lewis knew he was shooting a condor to face charges under this act. The maximum penalty under the ESA is a misdemeanor charge with a one-year term and a $100,000 fine, while the Migratory Bird Treaty violation carries a maximum six-month term and a $15,000 fine, or the monetary losses caused by the shooting, whichever is greater.
Robert Wright, the assistant U.S. attorney who is prosecuting the case, said the condor that was shot, known as Adult Condor-8 or AC-8, was a key bird in the Wildlife Service's $35 million recovery program for the endangered species, and that it was difficult to put a value on its loss.
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on a number. As you can imagine, it could be a significant number," said Wright.
AC-8 was found dead of a gunshot wound February 13th in southern Kern County. In less than two weeks of investigation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents, working in conjunction with the Department of Fish and Game and the Kern County Sheriff's office, were able to make a case against Lewis, who reportedly confessed to killing the condor and actually returned to the scene to reenact the event. It is believed the bird was shot the weekend of Feb. 8-9 while he was allegedly on a wild pig hunt.
AC-8, a female bird with a nine-foot wingspan, was the matriarch of a handful of California condors in the wild. Born in the wild, she was the last of the wild birds to be captured in 1986. She spent 14 years in captivity, where she produced 12 offspring, before being released back into the wild in April, 2000, as a mentor bird.
The California condor has been the focus of a $35 million recovery program that has brought the bird back from the brink of extinction with captive bred and reared birds, raising the population from its low of just 22 birds to the current 197 birds scattered between wild populations in California and northern Arizona and captive birds at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo.
The other charges against Lewis, the illegal taking of a whitetail deer in Illinois with a resident license and subsequent transport of that deer to California, were filed under the Lacey Act, which regulates interstate commerce. This charge is also a misdemeanor, but a maximum penalty for this charge would be one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Because of the high profile nature of the case, it is expected that prosecutors will ask for the maximum penalties under both charges, which would be 1 1/2 years in prison and at least $115,000 in fines -- although fines could easily be three or four times that amount, depending on the value the USFWS places on AC-8.
Even at that, environmental and hunting groups are disappointed that Lewis could not face greater punishment.
"That's a slap on the wrist," said Andy McCormick, a spokesman for Turner's Outdoorsman, a chain of stores that sells hunting and fishing gear. "They need to make an example of this individual. Maybe it would help rid the hunting community of this type of scum. He is definitely not your typical hunter -- in fact, he shouldn't be considered a hunter. He's a poacher, an outlaw."
Lewis, who has not been in custody, is expected to appear in federal court voluntarily next Wednesday in Fresno to plead to the charges.
Jim Matthews-ONS
4/30/03
Condor poacher faces charges in federal court
Two months after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had a confession from a 29-year-old Tehachapi man in the shooting death of an endangered California condor, the U.S. attorney's office in Fresno filed a series of charges against Britton Cole Lewis Tuesday.
Besides the condor shooting, Lewis was also charged for illegally killing a whitetail deer in Illinois and its illegal interstate transport. If he receives the maximum charges for both crimes, Lewis could serve 1 1/2 years in jail and pay $115,000 or more in fines.
Lewis was charged under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the condor shooting, rather than under the Endangered Species Act. While the penalties are steeper under the ESA, a 1998 Justice Department policy would require that Lewis knew he was shooting a condor to face charges under this act. The maximum penalty under the ESA is a misdemeanor charge with a one-year term and a $100,000 fine, while the Migratory Bird Treaty violation carries a maximum six-month term and a $15,000 fine, or the monetary losses caused by the shooting, whichever is greater.
Robert Wright, the assistant U.S. attorney who is prosecuting the case, said the condor that was shot, known as Adult Condor-8 or AC-8, was a key bird in the Wildlife Service's $35 million recovery program for the endangered species, and that it was difficult to put a value on its loss.
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on a number. As you can imagine, it could be a significant number," said Wright.
AC-8 was found dead of a gunshot wound February 13th in southern Kern County. In less than two weeks of investigation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents, working in conjunction with the Department of Fish and Game and the Kern County Sheriff's office, were able to make a case against Lewis, who reportedly confessed to killing the condor and actually returned to the scene to reenact the event. It is believed the bird was shot the weekend of Feb. 8-9 while he was allegedly on a wild pig hunt.
AC-8, a female bird with a nine-foot wingspan, was the matriarch of a handful of California condors in the wild. Born in the wild, she was the last of the wild birds to be captured in 1986. She spent 14 years in captivity, where she produced 12 offspring, before being released back into the wild in April, 2000, as a mentor bird.
The California condor has been the focus of a $35 million recovery program that has brought the bird back from the brink of extinction with captive bred and reared birds, raising the population from its low of just 22 birds to the current 197 birds scattered between wild populations in California and northern Arizona and captive birds at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo.
The other charges against Lewis, the illegal taking of a whitetail deer in Illinois with a resident license and subsequent transport of that deer to California, were filed under the Lacey Act, which regulates interstate commerce. This charge is also a misdemeanor, but a maximum penalty for this charge would be one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Because of the high profile nature of the case, it is expected that prosecutors will ask for the maximum penalties under both charges, which would be 1 1/2 years in prison and at least $115,000 in fines -- although fines could easily be three or four times that amount, depending on the value the USFWS places on AC-8.
Even at that, environmental and hunting groups are disappointed that Lewis could not face greater punishment.
"That's a slap on the wrist," said Andy McCormick, a spokesman for Turner's Outdoorsman, a chain of stores that sells hunting and fishing gear. "They need to make an example of this individual. Maybe it would help rid the hunting community of this type of scum. He is definitely not your typical hunter -- in fact, he shouldn't be considered a hunter. He's a poacher, an outlaw."
Lewis, who has not been in custody, is expected to appear in federal court voluntarily next Wednesday in Fresno to plead to the charges.
