Two Louisiana men have been convicted for a scheme to transport live white-tailed deer into Mississippi illegally.
Both Brandon Scott Favre, 49, and Jason Martin, 50, pled guilty to conspiring to transport the wild animals across state lines in violation of the Lacey Act, which bars the trafficking of illegally taken wildlife.
According to court records, from October 2020 through June 2021, the two men agreed to transport and receive from Louisiana into Mississippi a live white-tailed deer. In April 2021, Martin transported the deer as agreed upon and delivered it to Mistletoe Properties — a permitted 850-acre high-fence enclosure for white-tailed deer operated by Favre, located in Adams County.
Once delivered, the deer was put into an unpermitted breeding pen located on the property. The deer was transported from Louisiana without documentation — in violation of Louisiana law — and transported into the Magnolia State, in violation of both Mississippi and federal law.
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Federal law makes it unlawful to transport live white-tailed deer from one state to another without proper documentation and required animal health records. These records include certifying that captive-bred animals are free from diseases such as chronic wasting disease.
The Mississippi Board of Animal Health has declared that white-tailed deer are considered chronic wasting disease susceptible animals and are not allowed entry into Mississippi. The State of Louisiana requires any person who keeps, breeds, raises, contains, harvests, buys, sells, trades, or transfers ownership of any type of farm-raised alternative livestock for commercial purposes shall obtain a farm-raising license before engaging in such activity.
Additionally, Louisiana requires any person with a farm-raising license to maintain records, for not less than 60 months, of all sales, trades, or transfers of any farm-raised alternative livestock. White-tailed deer are considered farm-raised alternative livestock.
CWD is a highly contagious and fatal ailment among deer populations that damages portions of the wild animal’s brain and typically causes progressive loss of body condition, behavioral changes, excessive salivation, and ultimately death.
Favre is sentenced to a four-year term of supervised probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. He is also ordered to implement a four-year Chronic Wasting Disease sampling and testing plan conducted by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks on an 850-acre enclosure and pay $59,808.19 for the plan’s costs. As part of this plan, 40 white-tailed deer will be harvested each of the four years by the MDWFP for CWD testing.
“The MDWFP takes the interstate transport and unlawful importation of White-tailed deer into the State of Mississippi seriously,” MDWFP Col. Jerry Carter said. “We will continue to work collaborative criminal investigations with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service & the U.S. Attorney’s Office to detect and prosecute those who choose to violate the laws of this state.”
Martin is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3 and faces a maximum penalty of one in prison and a $10,000 fine. A federal magistrate judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
At this time, SuperTalk Mississippi News has not been able to confirm whether or not Brandon Scott Favre is related to embattled NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks – Investigations Unit, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bert Carraway is prosecuting the case.
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