75-year-old Edward L. Donaldson, Jr., and 42-year-old John Jared Oertling of LA were charged with conspiracy to violate the
LACEY ACT for importing live white-tailed deer into MS.
According to the
LACEY ACT, any person who imports, exports, transports, sells, receives, acquires or purchases wildlife that was taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any said wildlife is prohibited.
They both manage a 1,032-acre high fenced enclosure in Forrest County, called
Turkey Trot Ranch and conspired to smuggle the live deer into MS for the purpose of breeding and killing white-tail buck deer.
They learned in 2012 that the live white-tailed deer purchased and imported from PA to Turkey Trot Ranch came from a herd of captive white-tailed deer in PA that tested positive for
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a transmittable and a great threat to deer/elk population in North America, which kills off infected animals.
