Six winners of hog hunting contests now face criminal charges in Louisiana after they were accused of cheating.
All six were charged with hunting contest fraud and criminal conspiracy, and five were accused of violating interstate commerce as well, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said June 12.
Their attorney information isn’t available in Louisiana jail records.
Law enforcement agents said they learned the hunters caught the wild hogs in Texas prior to the contests but turned them in for the Louisiana competitions, violating rules that the hogs must be caught in Louisiana during the contest period.
The accused hunters range in ages from 26 to 40. They won the Dingler Wild Hog Roundup in Bienville Parish in February and the Swamp Time Hog Hunt in Caldwell Parish in March, according to agents with the wildlife department.
The hunters would have had to travel nearly 80 miles from Bienville Parish to the border of Texas. The trip is even farther from Caldwell Parish in central Louisiana.
One of the arrested hunters was also charged with obstruction of justice, and another was cited for hunting on a suspended hunting license, officials said.
One of the six hunters is only accused of participating in one of the contests. They all turned themselves into jail, the wildlife department said.
If convicted of hunting contest fraud, the hunters each face a maximum penalty of $3,000 and a year in jail, according to the agency.
The heftiest charge is obstruction of justice, which can carry up to a $10,000 fine and five years in jail. “Criminal conspiracy carries a fine in the same manner as the offense contemplated by the conspirators,” Louisiana officials said.
This article by Olivia Lloyd was first published by The State on 13 June 2024. Lead Image: More than 900,000 wild pigs live in Louisiana, causing damage to farms, forests and coastal wetlands. They are now found in every parish.
Johnny Morgan/LSU AgCenter
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