JACKSON - Earlier this week, two of three defendants named in an indictment, filed in February of this year, were arraigned in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. The three men named in the indictment are Coleman Virgil Slade and Dewayne Slade of Lamar County, Mississippi, and Don Durett of Stonewall County, Texas. Dewayne Slade and Don Durett were arraigned this week. Coleman Slade will be arraigned at a later date. The indictment alleges that the men violated the Lacey Act. According to the indictment, the three men imported white-tailed deer into Mississippi, from Texas, from 2009 until 2012. The charges are the culmination of an investigation initiated by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP), and joined by Special Agents of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the US Department of Agriculture – Office of the Inspector General, and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Mississippi law prohibits the importation of white-tailed deer. The Lacey Act is a Federal law that makes any violation of wildlife laws that cross state lines a Federal violation. In this case, since the deer were imported across state lines, the Lacey Act brings the alleged criminal acts into the Federal justice system. The alleged violations were discovered as a result of a routine inspection of the Slades' high-fenced enclosure by agents of MDWFP.

Mississippi's ban on the importation of white-tailed deer has been in place since 2002. The ban was enacted by the legislature in an attempt to keep Mississippi's deer herd free from Chronic Wasting Disease ("CWD"). CWD has been found in captive deer and elk herds most recently in Arkansas, and in the wild deer herd in Missouri.

"It's very disappointing that individuals would put self-interests over the health and vitality of the native deer population in Mississippi. I applaud the indictments and look forward to more individuals being held accountable for their self-serving, reckless actions," said Senator Angela Burks Hill, Vice-Chair of the Mississippi Senate Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Committee.

Trial is currently scheduled for June 20 of this year.
For more information regarding wildlife or hunting in Mississippi, visit our website at www.mdwfp.com or call us at (601) 432-2199. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mdwfp or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDWFPonline.