Sentencing will take place at a later date.
According to special agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Leggett traveled to British Columbia in August 1999 and on August 18, killed a trophy male stone sheep without the hunting licenses and permits required by British Columbia law. Leggetts Canadian guide tagged the sheep as his own but gave the hide and horns to Leggett, who returned to the United States. The sheep was later mounted by a taxidermist and displayed at Leggetts residence.
Special agents with the Services Law Enforcement program were asked by the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection to assist in the investigation of several U.S. hunters who were believed to have unlawfully hunted trophy animals in Canada, including mountain goat, stone sheep, moose, cougar, and grizzly bear.
Special agents from Illinois and Florida initiated the investigation. In March 2002, Illinois agents executed a search warrant at Leggetts residence and later confiscated the mounted sheep, which had originally been displayed at his residence. Further investigation revealed that Leggett had booked the illegal hunt with a Canadian guide for a fraction of the cost of a legal hunt.
Stone sheep are rare and highly prized by trophy hunters. Big game hunters often pay more than $15,000 to undertake challenging hunts for them.
The animals occupy a small range in the Yukon in northern Canada but occur throughout much of northern British Columbia and sporadically in the southern part of the province. These sheep cling to the sheer faces of mountains; males do not develop large horns until 5 to 7 years of age.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov
