Pace Man Pleads Guilty to Theft of National Park Signs

Pensacola, Florida – Hunter Drake Lovett, 30, of Pace, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to felony theft of government property. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This defendant thought he could enrich himself by stealing signs from our national parks that were paid for with U.S. taxpayer money, but thanks to the excellent investigative work by our federal law enforcement partners and this successful prosecution by my office, he now faces justice for his crimes.”

Court documents reflect that, in August 2026, state law enforcement and federal agents executed a search warrant on the defendant’s storage unit in Shalimar, Florida. Inside the storage unit, agents found hundreds of signs that were stolen from state and federal properties in the Northern District of Florida, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama, Middle District of Georgia, and Southern District of Mississippi. Agents utilized GPS data from the defendant’s work vehicle to confirm that he was within close proximity to multiple sign locations at the times the thefts occurred, including the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge and Conecuh National Forest. The defendant would then sell or attempt to sell the stolen signage to antique malls, flea markets, or via social media for profit. The signs that the defendant stole from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service totaled $7,326.79. 

Lovett faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service and United States Forest Service with assistance from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, Eufaula (Alabama) Police Department, and Florida Forest Service. Assistant United States Attorney Brooke D. Lindsay is prosecuting the case.

Lovett’s sentencing is scheduled for December 22, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II. 

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.