Three hunters are facing serious wildlife charges after allegedly organizing illegal hunts in Idaho and Wyoming, where they charged individuals over $6,000 to hunt mountain lions. Federal prosecutors announced the indictment on Wednesday.

The illicit hunts reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least twelve mountain lions, as stated in the indictment filed by federal authorities.

Chad Michael Kulow, Andrea May Major, and LaVoy Linton Eborn have been indicted on conspiracy charges and violations of the Lacey Act, a federal law that protects wildlife by prohibiting illegal trade in animals, fish, and plants.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Idaho confirmed that Kulow, Major, and Eborn were licensed guides working for a permitted outfitter in Idaho. However, the mountain lion hunts they conducted were unauthorized and not part of their licensed outfitting service, according to prosecutors.

According to the Justice Department, from late 2021, Kulow, Major, and Eborn collaborated to violate the Lacey Act by independently arranging mountain lion hunting trips, collecting payments directly, and guiding those hunts in Idaho and Wyoming.

Documents reveal that the mountain lions taken during these unsanctioned hunts were illegally moved from national forest lands to various states, including Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, Texas, and North Carolina.

The Lacey Act prohibits the sale, import, and export of illegally obtained wildlife, fish, and plants across the U.S., as per the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with certain exceptions for those holding appropriate permits.

Hunters engaged in unauthorized activities

The hunters took clients into the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Idaho and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming from December 2021 to January 2022, according to federal prosecutors.

Each participating client was charged between $6,000 to $6,500 for the hunting experience, as stated in court documents. Licensing by Idaho Fish and Game mandates that guides work only with licensed outfitters, who are responsible for handling hunt bookings.

The three individuals submitted falsified Big Game Mortality Reports for the mountain lions they killed, stating that a licensed outfitter had managed the hunts, according to prosecutors. Idaho Fish and Game requires hunters to complete mortality forms for large game.

They are scheduled to stand trial in November, with Kulow facing 13 charges, Major seven, and Eborn eight for Lacey Act violations, as indicated in court records.

If found guilty, the individuals could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, face fines of $250,000, and serve an additional three years under supervised release for each violation.

Government actively addressing Lacey Act violations

This indictment is part of a broader initiative by the Justice Department to crack down on Lacey Act violations nationwide.

This month, a Montana rancher was handed a six-month prison sentence for illegally creating a hybrid sheep for hunting purposes. Arthur “Jack” Schubarth was sentenced after it was revealed that he had cloned a Marco Polo sheep from Kyrgyzstan.

In November 2023, Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, known for his role in the popular Netflix series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to the Lacey Act.