Skip to main content
Press Release

Pennsylvania Man Sentenced For Taking Migratory Waterfowl Without A Proper License

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota

United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Pennsylvania man, convicted of the Unlawful Taking of Migratory Waterfowl, was sentenced on April 15, 2013 by U.S. Magistrate Judge John E. Simko.

Mike Evangelista, age 43, was sentenced to 3 years of probation; $4,500 in restitution (joint and several with co-defendants) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the cost of their undercover hunt; $200 in restitution to South Dakota State Game, Fish and Parks Department for the illegally taken waterfowl; a $500 fine; and a $25 special assessment.

Evangelista was indicted in April of 2012 by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to Violate the Lacey Act, Failure to Lawfully Tag Migratory Birds, and aiding and abetting the Illegal Sale and Possession of Wildlife in Violation of Migratory Bird Act. He pled guilty to a Superseding Information charging him with Aiding and Abetting the Unlawful Taking of Waterfowl Without a Proper License on April 15, 2013.

The conviction stems from an incident that occurred in the fall of 2009 in Marshall County, South Dakota when Evangelista, while employed as a waterfowl guide for Windy Hill Outfitters, aided and abetted the unlawful taking of ducks by three female hunters who did not have valid hunting licenses.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mikal Hanson prosecuted the case.

Updated June 22, 2015