Mike Bishop, Migratory Waterfowl Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2013

Bishop Sells Stolen Birds, Sentenced 11 Months

A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 11 months in custody for selling migratory waterfowl obtained illegally. On April 29, 2013, Mike Bishop, age 46, was handed down the sentence by US District Judge Charles B. Kornmann.

Bishop, the owner of Windy Hills Outpost, was convicted of the Unlawful Sale of Migratory Waterfowl. He was also ordered to pay $7,200 in restitution to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for the cost of the Services’ undercover hunt, $3,450 in restitution to South Dakota State Game, Fish and Parks Department for the illegally taking of State of South Dakota waterfowl, and a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

The conviction stems from incidents that occurred in the fall of 2008 and 2009, in Marshall County, when Bishop and others who worked for Bishop as guides, unlawfully provided migratory waterfowl to undercover US Fish and Wildlife Service officers for meals at the lodge before the undercover officers had even gone hunting.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Assistant US Attorney Mikal Hanson prosecuted the case. Bishop will report to the United States Marshal’s Service on May 28, 2013, to begin serving his sentence.

The charges against Bishop include Conspiracy to Violate the Lacey Act, Failure to Lawfully Tag Migratory Birds, the Sale and Possession of Wildlife in Violation of Migratory Bird Act, and False Labeling on Waterfowl Tags. He pled guilty to a Superseding Information charging him with the Unlawful Sale of Migratory Waterfowl on April 29, 2013.

Bishop’s actions resulted in the taking of ducks and geese that were not lawfully tagged, shooting ducks over the possession limit, guiding hunters who did not have valid hunting licenses, and altering dates on tags to show the migratory birds were taken on a series of days and not on a single day.

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