Three New Hampshire Men Plead Guilty in Federal Court to Poaching Bobcats and Shipping at Least 41 Pelts to Canada for Sale at a Fur Auction
CONCORD, NH — Three New Hampshire men have pleaded guilty in federal court after prosecutors said they illegally hunted wild bobcats for years and sent the pelts across the border to Canada. The case centers on an alleged scheme that investigators say used bait piles, false export paperwork and interstate travel to hide poached animals.
Sherwood Dubrey Jr., 48, and Randy Inman, 49, each pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire. Sherwood Dubrey Sr., 72, pleaded guilty to a separate Lacey Act violation. All three are scheduled to be sentenced in January.
How prosecutors say the bobcats were taken and moved
Federal prosecutors said Dubrey Jr. and Inman spent more than four years baiting bobcats on their property and on state land before shooting them. Investigators said the pair then transported the animals to New York, where bobcat hunting is legal and exports are permitted, even though the animals had been taken in New Hampshire.
According to prosecutors, Dubrey Sr. later obtained false tags under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, so the pelts would appear to have come from New York. That paperwork mattered because the pelts were later shipped to Canada for sale at a fur auction.
Why the Lacey Act mattered in this case
The Lacey Act is a federal conservation law passed in 1900 that prohibits wildlife violations that cross state or international borders. In this case, prosecutors said the statute applied because the alleged poaching and trafficking moved bobcat pelts between New Hampshire, New York and Canada.
Authorities also said New Hampshire does not allow hunting or trapping bobcats. Because the state has no export program and does not issue the pelt tags used in international wildlife trade, the men allegedly needed the false New York tags to move the pelts through the market.
At least 41 pelts were exported from 2018 to 2022
Investigators said the men illegally exported at least 41 poached bobcat pelts between 2018 and 2022. Prosecutors said that number reflects only the pelts they were able to document during the investigation, not the total number of bobcats killed over the full period.
Evidence included text messages in which the men discussed details of the operation and acknowledged that bobcat poaching was illegal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In one message, Inman admitted to killing a bobcat. In another, Dubrey Jr. told Dubrey Sr. he did not want bobcat hunting to become legal in New Hampshire because it would create “competition.”
Scoping rifles, texts and video helped investigators build the case
Prosecutors said Dubrey Jr. and Inman also used rifles with scopes capable of capturing photos and videos of the kills. They then sent those images and videos to others by text message, which investigators said became part of the evidence showing how the scheme worked.
The men’s guilty pleas came after a multi-agency investigation led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Local and environmental police, state offices in both the United States and Canada, and the FBI also assisted.
Sentences could bring prison time and supervised release
Dubrey Jr. and Inman each face up to five years in prison and up to three years of supervised release. Dubrey Sr. faces up to one year in prison and up to one year of supervised release, prosecutors said. The actual sentences will be decided when the men return to federal court in January.
U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan said New Hampshire hunters have built a system meant to conserve wildlife and support fair play. Doug Ault, assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, said the case showed how wildlife managers and law enforcement can work together to protect a legal and sustainable fur trade.
