OKLAHOMA CITY — A two-page spread in a popular deer hunting magazine that included trophy photographs of bucks shot in Washington state got an Oklahoma City man in trouble with the law, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Kyle McCormack, 26, was sentenced to a year of probation and will pay a $500 fine after he pleaded guilty to illegally transporting wildlife in interstate commerce, U.S. Attorney Sanford Coats said.
A two-page article in the July 2012 issue of Buckmasters Magazine credited to McCormack led to a tip that prompted federal and state officials to launch an investigation, Sanford said. Investigators determined that the wildlife was illegally killed in Washington and then shipped to Oklahoma, and that McCormack didn’t have valid hunting licenses in the locations cited in the article.
He was charged earlier this month with illegally transporting elk and black-tailed deer antlers in interstate commerce, and pleaded guilty to both misdemeanor counts, court records show. Court documents indicate McCormack knew the animals were illegally killed in Capitol State Forest.
Chris Box, McCormack’s attorney, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
As part of the plea agreement, McCormack also agreed to pay $2,500 into the Lacey Act Reward Account.
Enacted more than 100 years ago to curtail the hunting black market, the Lacey Act is a federal law that governs the interstate commerce of fish and wildlife.
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