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Pensacola man banned from hunting for
life
January 26, 2007
CONTACT: Capt. Mary Sumner (850) 595-8905
An 18-year-old Pensacola man now knows citizens
of his area and the local courts have little tolerance for
repeated wildlife crimes.
Joshua Wayne Douglas and a 16-year-old Milton
youth faced a Santa Rosa County judge last week after Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers charged
them with killing three small spotted fawns on Christmas Eve
near Munson on Division of Forestry property and shooting from a
roadway. A Wildlife
Alert tip led officers to the pair.
Douglas pled guilty and was sentenced to 120
days in jail and 30 hours of community service, fined $1,000 and
ordered to pay $330 court costs, had his hunting privileges
revoked for life and forfeited the shotgun used to kill the
deer. The juvenile received probation.
It was Douglas’ second time before a Santa Rosa
County judge in the past two months for shooting deer illegally
or at night. He and an accomplice were charged Nov. 5 for night
hunting deer after the pilot of an FWC airplane and ground units
spotted the pair as they attempted to shoot a deer using a
spotlight.
In that case, Douglas had to pay $500 in fines
and court costs, was sentenced to 10 hours of community service
and had his hunting license suspended for three years. The other
hunter was fined $1,353.50 and ordered to perform 30 hours of
community service, and his hunting license was suspended for
three years.
A new Florida law allows local courts to deal
seriously with repeat offenders. When repeat offenders’
violations occur within specified times, they face tougher
penalties with each conviction.
"This just shows the serious attitude the
criminal justice system takes with wildlife law violations,”
said FWC Capt. Mary Sumner, who supervises officers in Escambia,
Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties. "In this case there
were three small fawns that a number of locals had gotten used
to seeing as they drove by the property every day.”
Florida is now a member of the Wildlife Violator
Compact, a consortium of 24 states, electronically linked to
share information about persons whose hunting or fishing
privileges are suspended or revoked. There are 12-13 additional
states in the process of joining the compact.
Douglas may not hunt in any state that is a
member of the compact. |
