Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Jury Finds Bob Kern Not Guilty

West Virginia-based hunt booking agent Robert Kern was found not guilty today in a federal court in Houston of charges related to a 2002 hunting trip in Russia. Robert Kern and his company The Hunting Consortium were charged with breaking the Lacey Act, a federal law that bans importation of wildlife knowingly taken in violation of another country's laws. Kern had been accused by the U.S. government of three things: That he aided others in the taking of wildlife in violation of Russian law, that he knew shooting from a helicopter was illegal, and that he caused the resulting trophies�moose antlers, sheep horns, and skins�to enter the United States.

The prosecutor for the U.S. government, Wayne Hettenbach, had to convince jurors that Kern was guilty of all three counts. Early on in the trial this turned out to be a tough case for the government as it could produce no witnesses from Russia while Kern had a credible witness, Victor Kropivyansky, a regional wildlife deputy director. He spoke via a translator and said that the trip in question was conducted legally and provided an economic benefit "because it's free meat� for the local populace.

The case stemmed from a 2002 hunting trip when four prominent international hunters traveled to the Russian Far East region to hunt for sheep and moose. During this trip animals were allegedly shot from a helicopter. When the U.S. government tried to indict one of the four hunters of conducting illegal wildlife acts in Russia, it failed. Kern was not among the group of four, but after the government failed to get a recommendation on indictment for the hunter from a grand jury, prosecutors fell upon Kern, the agent who had arranged the trip, in what was perceived by some as a vindictive action.

Kern had to spend a rumored three quarters of a million dollars to defend himself, and he maintained his innocence from the get-go. The trial went poorly for the government from the start. At first it changed lead prosecutors for unknown reasons and after that Kern was reportedly offered a plea bargain that would have reduced the felony charge to a misdemeanor. Kern refused this offer and held out for a full jury trial. The jury deliberated several hours and found Kern not guilty on all counts.

They wouldn't have made such a stink about it if the "skins" in question hadn't been a couple of shrunken heads offa some old Mongolian dudes.

Don

Glad to hear that he prevailed. Now I know nothing about it but is there any way he can recover the money he spent fighting the false charges? I mean it's just not right to have to spend a fortune seeking the truth. If the Government decides to they can break you and all the while know that you are not guilty.

Piper

I know one of the hunters. That was a put-up job from the get go.

Heck, I'm sure SCI has some grand slam of shrunken heads...(Wild Horsemen of Asia...your have to take a Mongolian, a Siberian, an Irkutskian and a Tajekistani) ....can even take them behind a high fence if you have to.

I bet a cagy old Mongolian on a fast horse is pretty sporty hunting, even out on the open steppes from a helicopter.

Either that or they tried to slide,... tags fer 'em can hit ya a lick!

Steve,

I agree it nwas a bogus prosecution, but do you have any insight into the government's motivation?

It goes without saying USF&W went over to the dark side some years ago. Just like BATF.

If he had to spend 750k, how much do you suppose "we the people" spent on the prosecution??? WTF are these people thinking, you have a Russian wildlife official that says it was all legal and can't get any other witnesses, how the *%#@( does something like this even get to a jury?

"We the people" couldn't find anybody committing criminal acts here in our own country to prosecute? At the center of the people's republic of Washington, King County announced that due to budget cuts they weren't going to be able to prosecute property crimes under 10K and a list of other crimes in the future... I'm sure they'll find the funds to prosecute people with bonfires on the beach though...

Sorry for the rant, but after the last two days of trying to make a living I could retire quite well on the money that was wasted in this ONE stupid case.

Just who prompted the trial? PITA? Bear

I know all 5 of the guys there. Kern and the 4 hunters. They were guilty as Hell on all counts. One of the hunters, who was a son of another hunter, actually took video of them shooting from the Helicopter. The video was shown at SCI at the Convention.

Tom Riley was the head of USF&W Southeast Region. He was forced to retire early because of his involvement and was rewarded by another of the Hunters by being given the head job at SCI. Later he was canned by the BOD after his involvement became known.

Money equals justice and when you are dealing with guys who have millions, to one guy who counts his savings in the Billions, you are always innocent.

mickey

Even if you are correct, why were the Feds prosecuting it and putting together such a weak case, evidence-wise?

Number one rule of a Federal prosecuter is don't file a case you won't win.

BTW in no way do I condone the way the hunt was conducted.

Perhaps someone brighter than I can explain why 'we' care about another countries game laws.

If the Russian's don't care, 'we' sure as hell shouldn't.

My thoughts exactly. Whoever decided to go after this case should be fired. Stinks like "vendetta"

Mickey
"They were guilty as Hell on all counts."

Sorry, gotta disagree... They were not guilty and the court laid the issue to rest. They may not have been lawful, but the news makes the case look very weak and the jury did not spend much time deciding something that took a lot of time to set up.

After finding out USF&WS has arbitrarily decided to make their own rules about selling duck skins for fly-tying... and making that a felony, I have neither stomach nor respect for their resource allocation decisions.
art

Micky,

You would then have been the lone dissenting juror. It took the jury "minutes" to make their decision, not days. The prosecution had "nothing" going for them in this case, and you evidentally know more than they did? So, why weren't you a witness? You knew Kern was guilty...??? Right?? So, with no case, the prosecution proceeded. Why? What was thier motivation to do so? Smacks of irresponsibility to me...

100% agree. WTF was this all about?

Do I read it right that was have a federal game statute that says if you go to another country and violate one of their game laws, that we can prosecute you here? Or am I missing something? How does the U.S. get jurisdiction to prosecute something that happened on foriegn soil and for which no U.S. law was violated (except the one mentioned)?

The way its read, Lacy Act..... if you violate another state or countries laws AND bring the game back, they can prosecute for the transportation across state or country lines.

We cannot prosecute for what you did in the other state or country. Thats up to them.

As a side not doesn't seem anything like hunting off the skids.. but thats not my call.

As long as it was found to be legal there, then its fine here....

You can be prosecuted for doing anything illegal game wise, IE poaching a deer, and then crossing state lines on the way home. I push that issue in all my hunter safety classes as its a much more serious issue when you cross lines...

Jeff

Where did this statement come from? Any animal taken behind a fence must go in the "Estate" listing NOT in the general trophy record section. Even then a host of conditions must be met. Animals have to be a resident herd not just released, over half of the high fenced area must offer cover for escape, animals must be truly wild, adequate food & water "naturally" so animals are not forced to feeders or waterholes where hunters wait. There are a great many more.

The Lacy Act prohibits illegally taken animals from crossing state lines or from entering the country. Jail time & stiff fines will result, if convicted. The F&G official was a female anti-hunter that couldn't charge the SCI executive or F&G hunter for fear of political out fall. She then charged Bob with a violation of the Lacy Act who assisted in the import of the trophies. Entire case was unfounded.