Three men pleaded guilty in federal court in New Hampshire to poaching more than 40 bobcats over four years and exporting them for trade.
Sherwood Dubrey Jr., 48, and Randy Inman, 49, both New Hampshire residents, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, a federal law that makes it illegal to import, export, transport or sell protected species of wildlife or plants.
Sherwood Dubrey Sr., 72, a New York resident, pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act. He was primarily responsible for transporting the bobcats.
In New Hampshire, it is illegal to hunt or trap bobcats.
Court records show that in a message Dubrey Jr. sent to Dubrey Sr., he wrote that he did not want a legal bobcat hunting season in New Hampshire because it would create “competition.”
“The people of New Hampshire have enacted hunting laws that conserve our resources and define our sense of fair play,” Erin Creegan, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, said in a statement. “Baiting and poaching dozens of bobcats for profit disregards that democratic consensus and the duty of sportsmanship shown by New Hampshire’s hunters. Crossing state or international lines will not protect poachers from accountability for their actions.”
From 2018 to 2022, the bobcats were illegally tagged in New York, falsely claiming the animals had been taken there.
New York has a lawful bobcat hunting season and an export program for bobcats and provides successful trappers or hunters of bobcats with a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) tag.
Court records show that Dubrey Jr. and Inman would sometimes use rifles with scopes that could capture video and photos of the kills, and they shared footage of the hunts via text message. The bobcats were lured by using bait piles on their property and on state land.
After the bobcats were tagged, Dubrey Sr. and his son arranged to ship the skins to Wisconsin. There, an intermediary handled exporting the pelts to a fur auction in Canada.
The bobcat pelts were sold at fur auctions for more than $350.
“Their actions undermined the tagging system that wildlife managers, hunters, and trappers depend on to keep the fur trade legal and sustainable,” said Doug Ault, assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. “Our message is clear—exploiting wildlife for profit has consequences, and we will work with our state partners to bring those responsible to justice.”
Sentencing for the three men is scheduled for January.
Dubrey Jr. and Inman face a maximum of five years in prison. Dubrey Sr. faces a maximum of one year.
