POCATELLO, Idaho — Three people have been indicted on 13 counts of violating the Lacey Act, announced U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit on Wednesday.
Chad Michael Kulow, 44, Andrew May Major, 44, and LaVoy Linton Eborn, 47, were all charged with conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and other Lacey Act violations.
The Lacey Act is a federal conservation law that prohibits the illegal trade of wildlife, fish and plants.
According to court records, in late 2021, Kulow, Major, and Eborn worked as licensed guides in Idaho, employed by a licensed outfitter. The three then conspired together to commit Lacey Act violations, as they began to illegally work in the capacity of outfitters, booking mountain lion hunting outside of their permitted outfitting service in Idaho and Wyoming.
Then, between December 2021 and February 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office said the defendants unlawfully sold hunting trips and carried out guiding trips on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Idaho, and Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming.
At least 11 mountain lions were killed in Idaho as a result of their hunts, and a Boone and Crockett record mountain lion in Western Wyoming also was killed.
Additionally, several Big Game Mortality Reports were submitted with false information about outfitter business information, and the U.S. Attorney's Office said at least three mountain lions were shipped directly to Texas, without being checked out by Idaho Fish and Game, which is required for the Big Game Mortality Reports.
Mountain lions killed during these hunts were then transported from the National Forest, to or from Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, Texas, and North Carolina, which violates the Lacey Act, and multiple Idaho state laws.
Kulow and Major were arrested on Sept. 24 and booked with the U.S. Marshals Service in Boise, with Eborn arrested on Sept. 25 in Pocatello.
All three defendants appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora K. Grasham, and they all entered not guilty pleas.
Court records indicate that Kulow was indicted on 12 counts, one felony count of conspiracy, and 11 counts of felony Lacey Act violations.
Major was indicted on seven counts, one felony count of conspiracy and six felony Lacey Act violations.
Eborn was indicted on eight counts, one felony count of conspiracy and seven counts of felony Lacey Act Violations.
A jury trial is scheduled in a Pocatello federal courthouse, under U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill. The trial is set to start Nov. 18, 2024.
Lacey Act violations are punishable by up to five years in federal prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest Service.
