Louisiana men plead guilty to illegally transporting deer into Mississippi
Two Louisiana men have pled guilty to charges of illegally transporting a deer from Louisiana into Mississippi.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Mississippi, Brandon Scott Favre, 49, of Baton Rouge, pled guilty on Nov. 8, 2023. Jason Martin, 50, of Hackberry, Louisiana, pled guilty on Jan. 19, 2024.
According to a news release from the USAO, from October 2020 through June 2021, Favre and Martin entered into an agreement to transport and receive from Louisiana into Mississippi a live white-tailed deer. In April of 2021, Martin transported the deer to Mistletoe Properties in Adams County, Mississippi. The land is an 850-acre, permitted high-fence enclosure operated by Favre. The deer was then placed in an unpermitted breeding facility.
The transfer of the deer across state lines violated federal, Louisiana and Mississippi laws.
Favre was sentenced to four years of supervised probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. He was also ordered to implement a four-year Chronic Wasting Disease testing plan in the enclosure and ordered to pay $59,808.19 in restitution for the costs of CWD testing.
Chronic wasting disease: CWD found in S. Mississippi deer, 150 miles from nearest previous case. How did it happen?
Sample collection and testing will be conducted by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. Forty white-tailed deer will be harvested each of the four years by MDWFP for CWD testing.
Chronic wasting disease, which has been found in both Louisiana and Mississippi, is always fatal to deer and other cervids such as elk and is considered their chief threat.
Martin is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3, 2024. He faces a maximum penalty of one year of imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bert Carraway.
CWD in Mississippi deer: Myths debunked and how hunters can help manage the disease
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Louisiana men plead guilty to illegal transport of deer into MS
