Taxidermist fined $15,000 for illegal possession of protected wildlife

U.S. Magistrate Robert McQuaid imposed the sentence Friday on former minister Michael Boyce, 51, who earlier pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts as part of a plea bargain.

Boyce entered the pleas to four misdemeanor counts of possessing migratory birds without a permit and one misdemeanor count of transporting wildlife without a permit.

In May, a federal grand jury indicted him on 18 felony and misdemeanor counts, including three counts of offering migratory game birds for sale when he knew they were taken in violation of the law.

Boyce also was indicted on one count of trading in African lions, an endangered species, and three counts of falsifying customs export records.

"He decided to agree to it (plea bargain) because he wanted to bring it to an end," said Boyce lawyer Fred Pinkerton.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been investigating him for four years. They told his clients or customers that he was going to prison and his taxidermy service would be closed."

The charges stemmed from a series of incidents from 1992 to 1995 in which Boyce possessed such birds as wood ducks, spoonbill ducks, gadwalls and cattle egrets.

Under terms of the plea bargain, his $30,000 worth of free taxidermy work will be donated to state or federal wildlife agencies or charitable groups.

Boyce's firm, Animal Artistry, has won numerous awards and has clients from across the United States, Europe and Asia.

He started the firm in his garage in 1983 after resigning as minister of the Reno Christian Fellowship Church.

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