CONCORD –Three men pleaded guilty this week in federal court to violating the Lacey Act, illegally hunting dozens of wild Bobcats in New Hampshire in order to ship the animals’ pelts to Canada, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces.
Sherwood Dubrey, Jr., 48, and Randy Inman, 49, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and Sherwood Dubrey Sr., 72, pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act before U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante this week. The Court scheduled sentencing for each defendant in January 2027. Dubry Jr. and Inman face a maximum prison term of five years and no more than three years of supervised release; Dubrey Sr. faces a maximum prison term of one year and no more than one year of supervised release.
Enacted 126 years ago, the Lacey Act protects the nation’s wildlife resources by prohibiting wildlife violations that cross state or international borders.
The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is a wild cat native to North America. In New Hampshire, it is unlawful to hunt or trap bobcats. To export a lawfully hunted bobcat pelt, the law requires that hunters obtain a tag under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (or CITES).
Because hunting bobcats is illegal in New Hampshire, New Hampshire does not have an export program for bobcats and does not distribute CITES tags for bobcats. New York, which has a lawful bobcat hunting season, has an export program for bobcats and provides successful trappers or hunters of bobcats CITES tags.
According to the public record, Dubrey Jr. and Inman conspired to violate the Lacey Act by poaching Bobcats in New Hampshire, transporting them to New York where Dubrey Sr. obtained false CITES tags to make the bobcats appear as though they were killed in New York, then shipping them to Canada to be sold at a fur auction.
Text messages and other evidence obtained through the investigation showed that for more than four years, Dubrey Jr. and Inman routinely killed bobcats in New Hampshire, including by using bait piles on their property and on state land to lure the bobcats to be shot. They then transported the poached bobcat pelts to New York to be falsely tagged and exported to Canada.
In their messages, the defendants acknowledge that their bobcat poaching is illegal and discuss the details of the scheme. In one such message, Inman confirmed to Dubrey Jr. that he shot or choked out an illegally trapped bobcat; in another, Dubrey Jr. told his father that he did not want a legal bobcat hunting season in New Hampshire because that would create “competition.”
Inman and Dubrey Jr. also used rifles with scopes that could capture videos and photographs of their illegal kills and sent those videos and images to others via text messages. In total, from 2018 to 2022, Dubrey Jr. and Inman illegally exported at least 41 poached bobcat pelts.
“The people of New Hampshire have enacted hunting laws that conserve our resources and define our sense of fair play,” said Erin Creegan, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire. “Baiting and poaching dozens of bobcats for profit disregards that democratic consensus and the duty of sportsmanship shown by New Hampshire’s hunters. Crossing state or international lines will not protect poachers from accountability for their actions.”
“This case began with the dedicated work of New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers and shows what we can accomplish together,” said Assistant Director Doug Ault, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. “Over four years, the defendants illegally killed at least 41 bobcats and falsified where the animals were taken so they could be sold on the international market. Their actions undermined the tagging system that wildlife managers, hunters, and trappers depend on to keep the fur trade legal and sustainable. Our message is clear—exploiting wildlife for profit has consequences, and we will work with our state partners to bring those responsible to justice.”