Outfitter Indicted for Russian Wildlife Imports

Outfitter Indicted for Russian Wildlife Imports



2007 September -   A Virginia hunting outfitter 
was indicted today in Houston, accused of breaking U.S. and Russian 
wildlife laws during a 2002 hunting trip to Russia. 
Robert Kern, the president of the Hunting Consortium, a hunting outfitter 
based in Berryville, Virginia, and the company itself were both indicted 
by a federal grand jury for violating the Lacey Act, said Ronald Tenpas, 
acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment 
and Natural Resources Division. 
The Lacey Act prohibits anyone from importing, exporting, transporting, 
selling, receiving, acquiring or purchasing in foreign commerce any 
wildlife taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any foreign 
law related to wildlife. 
The indictment is based on a hunt in Russia in the summer of 2002 that was 
organized by Kern. 

During the hunt, Kern is alleged to have used helicopters to locate 
trophy-sized moose and sheep for hunters on the trip. The helicopters were 
then allegedly used as airborne shooting platforms by the hunters. 
The use of helicopters in the taking of wildlife is prohibited by Russian 
law. The trophy parts of the wildlife were then transported from Russia 
and imported into the United States at an airport in Houston. 
Kern and the Hunting Consortium are each charged with a felony violation 
of the Lacey Act, which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in 
prison and a $250,000 fine for Kern, and a $500,000 fine for the Hunting 
Consortium. 
The investigation was led by special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service and is being prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes Section of the 
Department of Justice. 
The Hunting Consortium is a multinational corporation with home offices in 
Berryville, an information office in Rednitzhembach, Germany, a service 
office and outfitting base in Moscow. The corporation has full-time 
service representatives stationed in Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, 
Belgium, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tadjikistan. 

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