A sophisticated poaching ring was brought to justice, resulting in the arrest, prosecution, fines and jail terms for seven California men.
Arrested and sentenced were Martin Bravo Jr., 31, of Oxnard; Martin Bravo Sr., 61, of Oxnard; Jaime Mendoza Avila, 42, of Porterville; Gilberto Lopez Hernandez, 36, of Thousand Oaks; Walfre Lopez Y Lopez, 39, of Oxnard; Cristian Lopez Perez, 33, of Los Angeles; and Juventino Reyes Guererro, 45, of Piru.
The investigation kicked off when state wildlife officers received a number of tips from the public regarding some suspected poaching in the southern Los Padres National Forest. As the investigation matured, officials began to notice an incredibly large amount of replacement licenses and hunting tags issued from one particular CDFW license vendor.
Working alongside the Ventura County District Attorney’s Environmental Protection Unit, it was later revealed that the accused men conspired with the clerk at a market to fraudulently obtain a number of additional tags that would allow them to exceed regular big game hunting limits. It was found that the seven men obtained 87 licenses, tags and other entitlements fraudulently and used them to illegally take wildlife.
The execution of search warrants resulted in the seizure of a number of taxidermied deer mounts, deer skulls, a mountain lion skull, deer and bear meat, fraudulent game tags, 11 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, roosters and cock fighting paraphernalia and some stolen copper wire. The investigation continued later into the search of a local taxidermy shop that also resulted in additional evidence including an illegally killed bear and fake bear tag.
“Seven suspects conspiring to poach wildlife in a concentrated area over years will begin to adversely affect local wildlife populations,” said Nathaniel Arnold, Acting Chief of the CDFW Law Enforcement Division. “The intensive investigation by wildlife officers in conjunction with diligent prosecution will dismantle this criminal activity and send a message that poaching will not be tolerated.”
All seven of the co-defendants were offered a plea deal that stipulated that each and every one of them plead guilty to counts of felony conspiracy for the unlawful take/possession of wildlife and for filing false documents with the state. In addition, the defendants are required to each serve 180-220 days in jail, 24 months worth of probation along with a lifetime prohibition of hunting and fishing privileges in the state of California.
