Two Former Mdwfp Employees Sentenced On Wildlife Related Charges

Jackson, Miss – Two former employees of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) were sentenced in U.S. District Court on July 10, 2013, on wildlife-related charges, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis.

Darrel Eugene Dew, a former MDWFP Conservation Officer, pled guilty to taking wild turkeys on federal lands in excess of the bag limit, and failing to submit National Wildlife Refuge User Information Cards on two separate occasions upon the taking and transporting of two white-tailed deer. He was fined $750 plus a $60 assessment fee, and he agreed to forfeit one Remington 870 Express Magnum shotgun, one compound bow, four eastern wild turkey fans, one nine-point white-tailed deer skull with antlers, one ten-point white-tailed deer skull with antlers, sixteen frozen eastern wild turkey feet and eight frozen eastern wild turkey beards.

Jason Thomas Kerr, a former MDWFP Area Manager, was found guilty of conspiring with Dew to commit offenses against the United States by failing to comply with the Sunflower Wildlife Management Area Daily Visitor User Permit Card requirements. Kerr was fined $500 plus a $10 assessment.

Both Dew and Kerr were placed on one year of federal probation which prohibits them from hunting anywhere worldwide, and they are both prohibited from entering any U. S. National Forest or U.S. National Wildlife Refuge for a period of two years.

This case was the result of a joint investigation conducted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Forest Service and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca.

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