In a week-long trial last autumn in a Springfield, Massachusetts, courtroom filled with life-sized mounted game animals, a federal jury convicted Lawrence J. Romano, 50 of Mount Washington, Massachusetts, of six felony charges for hunting without a valid license in Alaska and then transporting the illegally taken game across state lines. Those actions violated the Lacey Act, a federal statute regulating the sale and purchase of wildife in interstate commerce. Romano operates several tatoo parlors in the Northeast.
During the March 27 sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor fined Romano$20,000. In addition, Judge Ponsor ordered Romano to pay the State of Alaska $9,994 in restitution of lost hunting license revenue and placed him on supervised probation for two years.
As a condition of his probation, Romano will not be allowed to hunt or to be in the company of people engaged in hunting anywhere in the world during his probation.
The judge also ordered that firearms would not be allowed in the Romano residence during the probationary period and advised Romano that, as a convicted felon, he would never be authorized to possess a firearm for the rest of his life.
Judge Ponsor also approved a forfeiture order for six big game mounts that wildlife agents seized from Romanos home in February 1995. These mounts included Dall sheep, moose and caribou that had been killed illegally in Alaska. A life-sized brown bear mount, seized from the Romano residence, was previously forfeited to the government as part of a civil action.
During the criminal trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Romano illegally hunted in Alaska from 1990 through 1994 without a valid Alaska hunting license and then transported the illegally killed animals to Massachusetts. The prosecution provided documentation showing that Romano falsely clamed to be an Alaska resident on his application for an Alaska hunting license, thereby saving thousands of dollars in hunting and licensing fees. Because Romano pruchased the services of Alaska guides during the course of his illegal hunting activities and then transported the unlawfully taken wildlife across state lines, his conduct violated the felony section of the Lacey Act.
While searching the Romano residence, state and federal wildlife agents discovered a live black bear in a cage behind his house and a live copperhead snake, which is an endangered species in Massachusetts, in the cellar. Both animals were possessed in violation of state law and were seized by the Massachusetts Environmental Police, with the assistance of officers of the Animal Rescue League of Boston. Romano paid a $5,000 fine in state court stemming from these violations.
This case was investigated by special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from Boston, New York and Anchorage, Alaska; the Massachusetts Environmental Police; the Massachusetts State Police; and investigators from the Alaska State Troopers Fish and Wildlife Protection. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadine Pellegrini of the Major Crimes Unit and Trial Attorney Charles W. Brooks of the Justice Departments Environmental Division.
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