Man pleads guilty to 2 wildlife law violations


By SARAH ANTONACCI
STAFF WRITER
Published Thursday, September 20, 2007


The owner of a rural Pike County business pleaded guilty Wednesday to two violations of a federal wildlife-protection law.

Gerald “Jerry†W. Johns, owner of Double XX Outfitters, was fined $25,000.
He was accused of providing paid outfitting services that resulted in the illegal kill and transport of white-tailed deer, according to U.S. Attorney Rodger Heaton’s office.

Johns, 45, is from Rockport.

In November 2005, he allowed two clients — one from Florida and the other from West Virginia — to illegally take deer that were then transported across state lines. He admitted he had falsified documents and allowed his clients to illegally tag deer and hunt on property Johns didn’t own.

Interstate transportation of wildlife taken illegally carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to a year in prison.

The charges against Johns were part of an undercover investigation into illegal hunting known as Operation Mongo conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Johns pleaded guilty in Pike County July 9 to three state wildlife law violations: providing fraudulent information for state records, accessory to unlawful hunting and unlawful possession of wild turkeys.

As part of that plea deal, he turned over three rifles that had been used to illegally kill wildlife and also handed over numerous illegally obtained wildlife photographs and mounts, including antelope killed in Wyoming and caribou in Alaska.

His outfitter license and hunting privileges have been revoked for three years.