Alabama Firefighter Sentenced for Illegal Guided Deer Hunts

DES MOINES, IA - On July 17, 2015, Robert J. Wilkins, 53, of Semmes, Alabama, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner to 4 years of probation for Wilkins’ role in guiding illegal deer hunts in Iowa, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. As conditions of his probation, Wilkins must serve 6 months of home confinement and pay $12,000 in restitution to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Wilkins was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund.

Beginning in at least 2010, Wilkins guided out-of-state hunters, who did not have Iowa hunting license or tags, during illegal white-tail buck deer hunts on land in rural Lucas County. Wilkins arranged for the hunts, provided hunting equipment, collected guide fees, provided instructions to hunters for avoiding detection by game wardens and law enforcement, helped process illegally taken deer, and transported the meat, capes and antlers of illegally taken deer from Iowa to Alabama.

This investigation was conducted by the United State Fish and Wildlife Service, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and the Alabama Game and Fish Division, and was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.