Two LA Men Plead Guilty To Importing Deer

Two Louisiana men have pleaded guilty to importing live white-tailed deer into Mississippi.

Federal prosecutors say 75-year-old Edward L. Donaldson, Jr. and 42-year-old John Jared Oertling, both of Pearl River, Louisiana, pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act.  It is illegal to import live deer into Mississippi and against federal law to transport wildlife across state lines.

The Clarion-Ledger reports Donaldson and Oertling admitted to conspiring to import the deer from February 2010 through November 2012.  The men also admitted that the deer came from a facility in Pennsylvania that tested positive for chronic wasting disease.

Donaldson and Oertling manage a 1,031 acre, high-fenced enclosure in Forrest County know as Turkey Trott Ranch.  The property is owned by Jill Marie Donaldson, Oertling’s wife, and daughter of Donaldson.

A mother, stepmother, grandmother and great grandmother who was taught deer hunting by my second husband, Bob, in my mid-forties. I’m still hunting today and loving it!