Charges For Killing Back Bear

A Meridian man has pleaded guilty to federal charges of obstructing a federal investigation into the killing of a protected Louisiana Black Bear in east Mississippi.

Federal prosecutors said in a news release 28-year-old Travis Butler arranged on January 4, 2014, for a taxidermist in Quitman to mount a Louisiana Black Bear illegally killed in Whynot community of Lauderdale County.

When a federal and state investigation began into the killing, Butler persuaded the taxidermist to conceal the Black Bear's hide.

Butler pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Jackson.  He will be sentenced September 3.

He faces a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison under the Endangered Species Act and faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison for obstruction.