Major Commercial Poacher Sentenced to 51 Months

William B. Epperson was sentenced on September 3, 2003 in the Southern District of Mississippi, by U.S. District Court Judge Walter J. Gex III on a single felony count violation of the federal Lacey Act. Assistant United States Attorney John Dowdy, Jackson, Ms., prosecuted the case and Assistant United States Attorney Jay Golding, Biloxi, Ms. assisted with the sentencing.

The investigation identified that from on or about June 2, 2002 and continuing to on or about August 16, 2002, Epperson and others did knowingly engage in conduct that involved the sale and purchase, offer of sale and purchase, and the commission of an act with intent to sell and purchase oysters, 3,235 sacks, with a market value of approximately $84,110.00, and did knowingly make a false record, account, label, and identification relating to the illegally taken oysters when Epperson and others knew that the oysters had been taken in Louisiana and had been and were intended to be transported, purchased, and received in interstate commerce from the State of Louisiana to Mississippi.

William B. Epperson was Captain of the vessel during the time of the investigation that was jointly conducted by United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division.

U.S. District Court Judge Walter J. Gex III sentenced Epperson on September 3, 2003 at 4:10pm in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Epperson received the following sentence:
—51 Months incarceration in Federal Prison
—3 years supervised probation with the following special conditions:
—All personal financial information to be forwarded to the court
—No new credit obligations without prior approval from the court
—Urinalysis tests to be conducted during period of supervised probation
—$2,500.00 total in fines
—$2015.00 total in restitution to commercial fishermen (victims)
—Enrollment in Mental Health Treatment Program
—Special assessment fee payable to the court
—Banned from Commercial Fishing Industry During Probation Period

Participating in the investigation were United States Fish & Wildlife Service Special Agents Stephen Clark and William Mellor, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Enforcement Agents Brian Clark, Allen Adam, Stephen McManus, Scott Keller, Brian Marie, and Louisiana Department of Revenue Director of Internal Audit Phyllis Parry, and Louisiana Department of Revenue Director of Special Investigations Virginia Burton, and United States Probation Officers Clay Mateer and Becky Luke.
 

WILLIAM “BILLY” EPPERSON – THE REST OF THE STORY

We first became aware of William “Billy” Epperson in summer of 1988, when we began to receive almost daily complaints about a trawl boat named “Barracuda” trawling in closed season almost every night in Barataria Bay. The complainants reported a guy named “Billy” who would come in to the dock with large catches in closed season, and brag that he was trawling illegally and could not be caught. Then Sergeant Sandy Dares began to work this complaint, and caught the Barracuda, with Epperson as captain, on 7/28/88. In this incident he gave the name William Davidson. He also dropped his trawl boards on the deck of Dares’ patrol boat, claiming that his winch slipped.

Sergeant Dares eventually figured out who he was, got the charges amended, and Epperson was convicted. We continued to receive similar complaints, and we caught him trawling illegally again in April of 1989. Dares made several court appearances and had Epperson charged in 24th JDC on a second offense, but he never would show up for court. We were unsuccessful in serving attachments.
We then began to receive frequent complaints of Epperson stealing oysters and working closed waters for oysters in Plaquemines Parish. He was cited at least twice.

From 1990 to 1997, we had a few complaints about him but did not cite him. In early 1990, Dares was promoted to regional supervisor as captain of Region 8. In this office position, he would often handle public complaints. He was called a few times by a woman who claimed to be Epperson’s ex-wife in Mississippi, who reported that Billy was stealing oysters in the Biloxi/Louisiana Marsh area of St. Bernard Parish. She was trying to get us to catch him because he owed her money, but she claimed he would not return to Mississippi for court appearances. There were also claims made that he was in jail for some of this time. She called several times over a period of a few months, then quit calling.
In 1997, we began to receive frequent complaints of Epperson stealing oysters and working closed waters for oysters, again in the Louisiana Marsh area of St. Bernard Parish. He was cited about nine times from 1997 to 2000 for various oyster and shrimp violations.

There were several incidents in which he was involved which had to do with retaliation against people who reported him. In one, he drug oyster dredges suspended from the side of his boat down the side of another, doing significant damage. In another, he attacked another fisherman with a shovel.
In one of the more memorable events, enforcement agents were attempting to execute an arrest warrant for Epperson on the water, a dangerous situation. He dove into the water, swam to another boat, and hid in the engine room. The agents had to board the other vessel and enter the engine room to arrest him. He was irate and combative, and made several threats against the agents and the victims who reported him for stealing their oysters.

During the transport for this matter, Epperson told the agents several times that he would never quit, and that he would get revenge by returning to the area and stealing as many oysters as he could to “catch back.” When he was booked into jail, he told the agents that he would never stop stealing oysters, that money could buy anything, including getting him out of trouble every time. He was very arrogant, and when the agents were departing he told them, “See ya soon – and put your running shoes on, you’ll need them.”

It should be noted that throughout our entire history of contacts with Epperson, he was always very manipulative. He would lie about whether he had appeared in court, always deny violations (even in the face of agents observing him), fail to appear for scheduled appearances, and generally play the system. Charges were sometimes dropped because he would avoid court for years.

At times, Epperson has falsified license applications by lying about his status as a resident of Louisiana so that he could purchase cheaper resident licenses. He has told us that he is going to violate just to show us and the ones who have complained about him stealing that he can get away with it. He has tried to become friendly with agents, sometimes claimed to be crazy, and his knowledge of our agents names, patrol areas and radio call numbers indicates that he uses a scanner to monitor agent’s patrols.

At other times, Epperson would brag at docks that he was going to fish oysters wherever he wanted to, and that we couldn’t stop him no matter what action we would take. Obviously these types of statements are very inflammatory to lease owners on whose leases he was working/stealing. His statements would cause another round of irate callers, and another round of costly patrols.

We have also been told that he has done jail time in Mississippi for criminal violations, including battery, theft, and drug charges, as well as for oyster violations there. According to Mississippi Game and Fish officials, he once broke into their evidence facility and stole trawls which had been seized from him for closed season trawling.

Epperson has received at least 40 citations in Louisiana for at least 19 different incidents since 1987, and has been one of the most persistent violators in Louisiana. He has also been the type of career criminal who manipulates the system in any way possible to avoid or postpone prosecution, and has at times continued to violate while other cases are pending. In addition, he has resorted to violence to retaliate against law abiding citizens, and has threatened violence against our wildlife enforcement agents.

Epperson has engaged in a pattern of illegal behavior which has been very costly to others, namely to legitimate oyster lease holders whose oysters were stolen, legal fishermen who work in state waters which he depleted in closed season, and to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division. We have spent a great deal of our time answering complaints on Epperson, investigating his violations, attending court, and in general dealing with him. His constant violations and lawless behavior over a span of almost twenty years have taxed our resources and caused an untold amount of expense, aggravation, hardship and stress on our agents.

Epperson is considered by many agents and fishermen to be the worst and most unrepentant commercial outlaw on the Louisiana coast, and is especially reviled by the oyster industry. Since his arrest for the 2002 charges, complaints on the theft of oysters from the Louisiana Marsh area have been minimal, and we have received many calls from participants in the oyster industry thanking us for a job well done. It would be difficult to exaggerate the negative impact Epperson has had, and the resultant relief felt by agents and legal oystermen since his incarceration.

This lengthy jail sentence will not only prevent him from preying on others, but also act as a serious deterrent to anyone wishing to emulate Epperson’s behavior. It will go a long way to preserving and protecting Louisiana’s valuable natural resources, and affording law abiding users a less hostile environment in this difficult industry. It should be noted that this is not just a Louisiana issue – there are many Mississippi residents who work private leases and state seed grounds in Louisiana, and depend on fishing Louisiana waters for their livelihood.

The industry, his victims, our agents, and the judicial system have worked together to put an end to Epperson’s depredations, and this team effort has resulted in serious consequences for a true wildlife criminal.