Louis Floden Jr, Unlawful Transport of Wildlife, Iowa 2020

Louis Floden, Jr., 69, of Pella, Iowa, didn’t just break hunting rules—he broke federal law. On August 18, 2020, Floden pleaded guilty in Bismarck federal court to Unlawful Transport of Wildlife in Foreign Commerce, admitting he smuggled two black bear hides from Manitoba, Canada, into the United States in September 2019. The charge carries stiff penalties under the Lacey Act, which targets illegal trafficking of protected wildlife across international borders.

Floden entered the U.S. through the Pembina Port of Entry in North Dakota and declared only one sport-taken black bear to customs officials. But a routine inspection of his vehicle revealed a second black bear hide stashed with the first. Canadian licensing laws strictly prohibit purchasing more than one big game license of the same type per hunting season—Floden held just one license, yet killed two bears. When confronted, he first claimed the second hide belonged to another hunter at his camp. He later admitted he shot both animals himself and knew the second kill was illegal.

It got worse. Investigators determined both bears were killed outside the designated hunting zone permitted under Floden’s Manitoba license. That means he wasn’t just over-hunting—he was poaching in restricted territory, further violating Canadian wildlife regulations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Customs and Border Protection agents built the case using cross-border enforcement tools, proving the bears were taken in violation of foreign law, a key element under the Lacey Act.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice R. Senechal handed down a sentence that included one year of federal probation, a $7,500.00 fine paid directly to the Lacey Act Reward Account, and the mandatory special assessment. Floden also agreed to forfeit both black bear hides—trophies that now serve as evidence in a federal wildlife crime, not a hunting lodge centerpiece.

“Game hunting laws play an essential role in ensuring proper wildlife management,” said U.S. Attorney Drew H. Wrigley. “And we strictly enforce these provisions as a component of our environmental stewardship obligations.” The statement underscores the federal government’s push to treat wildlife smuggling not as a minor infraction, but as a serious breach of conservation law with international consequences.

The case was investigated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and United States Customs and Border Protection, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan J. O’Konek. Floden’s actions may have started in the remote forests of Manitoba, but they ended in a federal courtroom—proof that poaching across borders doesn’t go unnoticed for long.

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