Press Release
St. James Resident Charged with Selling and Possessing Migratory Birds
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ROYLEY A. FOLSE, JR., age 69, a resident of St. James Parish, was charged today in an eight-count Indictment with selling and possessing migratory game birds.
According to the Indictment, from June 2010 to December 2011, FOSLE illegally bartered and sold for cash four yellow-crowned night herons and sixty-two white ibis, which are migratory birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The Indictment also charges that on April 2, 2013, FOLSE possessed a Barn Owl and a Red-Tailed Hawk.
If convicted for the sale of migratory birds, FOLSE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years, followed by one year of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $2,000. A conviction for the possession of the Barn Owl and the Red-Tailed Hawk carries a maximum term of imprisonment of six months, followed by one year of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $15,000.
U. S. Attorney Polite reiterated that an Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendants must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Spiro G. Latsis is in charge of the prosecution.
Royley Folse, Jr. Indictment (1.92 MB)
Updated September 2, 2015
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