Nonresident deer poachers ordered to pay nearly $120,000 in southern Illinois

Five men from Mississippi were sentenced in southern Illinois federal court between September 4, 2024, and July 9, 2025. The men had not obtained non-resident hunting licenses and admitted to using spotlights to illegally take white-tailed deer in Massac, Jefferson, Union, Pope and Clark counties.

Whatever rationale poachers use, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is determined to stop their crimes. The USFWS works with state and Tribal partners, as well as fellow federal agencies, across the country to extinguish illegal activity. These five Mississippi poachers are now unwelcome to hunt in Illinois thanks to collaboration with several state and federal agencies.

Lee J. Johnson, 54, of Saucier, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transport of wildlife in violation of the Lacey Act and was sentenced to probation for five years, including 12 months of home detention and location monitoring. Johnson was also ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.

Steven J. Pique, 56, of Biloxi, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, was sentenced to probation for five years and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Gerald B. Moran, 40, of Saucier, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transport of wildlife in violation of the Lacey Act, was sentenced to probation for five years and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution, as well as a $2,500 fine.

Joshua A. Marshall, 30, of Saucier, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transport of wildlife in violation of the Lacey Act, was sentenced to probation for three years and ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution, as well as a $2,500 fine.

John M. Pritchard, 57, of Biloxi, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transport of wildlife in violation of the Lacey Act, was sentenced to probation for five years and ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution, as well as a $5,000 fine.

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According to court documents, between 2018 and 2022, the poachers used spotlights to scout white-tailed deer in Massac, Jefferson, Union, Pope and Clark counties in southern Illinois. Once a deer was located, members of the group would get a rifle, spotlight the deer again, and then shoot to kill.  They would later return to collect the carcass.

All five defendants received a world-wide hunting ban for the length of their probations. Restitution in this case will go to the Illinois Conservation Police Operations Fund within the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and fines will go to the Lacey Act Reward Account through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“This was not an isolated incident of unlawful hunting; rather, it was a calculated, multi-year operation that exploited Illinois’s prized wildlife resources for personal gain,” said Assistant Director Douglas Ault, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement.

“Targeting trophy deer under the cover of night, across multiple counties, and transporting them across state lines reflects a deliberate disregard for wildlife laws and the ecological balance we work tirelessly to protect. Such organized violations undermine decades of conservation progress and diminish the integrity of fair-chase hunting traditions that responsible hunters value nationwide.”

The investigation documented that after collecting a carcass, the poachers would then transport the animal over state lines, from Illinois back to Mississippi, where they would harvest and process the deer. Typically, the poachers would mount the deer’s head, antlers or other parts of its body.

Why is this a federal crime?

The short answer is that it’s a federal crime to break state wildlife laws and cross state lines with the wildlife from that crime.

It’s important to note that while there are legal seasons for hunters from out-of-state to harvest white-tailed deer in Illinois, the defendants were poaching and using illegal methods, like using spotlights and shooting from roadways.

When the poachers transported the illegal bucks from Illinois to Mississippi, they also violated the Lacey Act. While Congress has amended this law over the years, the Lacey Act is our nation’s oldest wildlife law, one that has carried heavy fines and penalties for more than a century.

Lacey Act Reward Account and how to report a tip about wildlife crime

While special agents and wildlife inspectors within the USFWS’s Office of Law Enforcement work with federal, state and Tribal conservation partners across the country to investigate wildlife crime, the USFWS also depends on tips from concerned citizens.

People from all walks of life step up and share information that help protect everything from native turtles and pallid sturgeon to bald eagles and white-tailed deer. Funds from this special account reward folks who share valuable information that leads to an arrest or conviction. These funds also help offset the costs of caring for live animals that have been seized in active wildlife crime cases.

The case was investigated jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Conservation Police, with support from federal wildlife officers with the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Sanders prosecuted the case.

Learn how to report a wildlife crime.

Story written by Tina Shaw, Public Affairs Specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service