KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A professional hunter from Tennessee will has been sentenced to three years on federal supervised release for a Lacey Act violation in Kansas, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. The hunter will lose his hunting privileges throughout the United States for six months, as well as paying a $10,000 fine and $10,000 in restitution.
William “Spook" Spann, 50, Dickson, Tenn., pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of transporting across state lines wildlife that was taken unlawfully in Kansas. In his plea, Spann admitted that in mid-November 2007 he unlawfully took a white-tailed deer in Stafford County, Kan. Spann took the deer on land owned by another person, in violation of Spann’s hunting permit, which entitled him to hunt only on land that he owned.
On a scouting trip, Spann and a cameraman spotted a deer at a distance of several hundred yards with the wind blowing in their faces so that the deer would not be able to hear or smell their approach. With a video camera rolling, Spann stalked to within 10 yards of the deer. Spann drew his bow and killed the deer with an arrow.
Federal investigators served a search warrant at Spann’s home in Tennessee, where they seized the antlers of the Kansas deer.
Grissom commended the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for their work on the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
