KANSAS CITY, Kan.  – A professional hunter from Tennessee with ties to Stafford County violated his federal probation and must spend a total of 30 days in Bureau of Prisons custody, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. O’Hara ruled that William “Spook” Spann, 50, Dickinson, Tenn., violated the conditions of his release after his conviction for a misdemeanor Lacey Act violation in Kansas. O’Hara’s order states that Spann:
• Continues on probation until Feb. 28, 2016.
• Is ordered to spend a total of 30 days during nights and weekends in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons between now and Feb. 28, 2014.
• Is ordered not hunt anywhere in the United States or the world until Aug. 1, 2014.
Last year, Spann pleaded guilty to transporting across state lines a white-tailed deer that was unlawfully taken in Stafford County. As part of the probation he was prohibited from hunting for six months, admonished not to commit any further federal crimes and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $10,000 restitution.
On June 10, the federal probation office in Kansas filed a petition alleging Spann violated his probation by hunting in Tennessee and violating a Tennessee law against baiting wildlife. O’Hara ruled that Spann violated the terms of his probation by hunting in the United States within six months of his sentencing and baiting turkeys in violation of Tennessee state law.
Spann, who owns property in Stafford County in south-central Kansas, killed a deer in November 2007 on land adjacent to his own after paying the landowner $5,000 for permission to do so, according to court documents. His nonresident hunting permit, though, allowed him to hunt only on his own property, so under Kansas law the deer was taken illegally.
It became a federal case when he transported the antlers across state lines to his home in Tennessee. Federal agents executed a search warrant at his home Jan. 25, 2011 and seized the antlers.
Spann, who has a hunting show, “Spook Nation,” on television’s Pursuit Channel, was sentenced in February to three years’ probation, fined $10,000, order to pay $10,000 in restitution and ordered not to hunt anywhere in the U.S. for six months. He also was forbidden from violating any hunting laws.