St. James Resident Pleads Guilty to Felony Violation for Selling Migratory Birds

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ROYLEY A. FOLSE, JR., age 69, a resident of St. James Parish, pled guilty yesterday to a felony violation for selling migratory game birds.

According to court documents, 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). 

FOLSE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years, a maximum fine of $2,000, and a maximum term of supervised release of one year.  U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval set sentencing for October 5, 2016.  

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.