Man sentenced for tusk trafficking scheme

TYLER — A man was sentenced to one year in prison for his role in an attempt to sell elephant tusks. According to our news partner KETK, Dusty Caudill was sentenced to one year in prison and three years supervised release on Tuesday for conspiracy to transport wildlife in interstate commerce. Caudill was charged alongside two other men. Their federal indictment claimed Caudill posed with the African elephant tusks in Ardmore, Oklahoma for photo and video recordings to promote the sale of the tusks. Another man then sent three photos and two videos to an undercover United States Fish and Wildlife special agent to negotiate the sale of the tusks. Prosecutors said that the tusks had been stolen in a burglary of a home in Ardmore in late 2020.

Records indicate that Caudill helped move two African elephant ivory tusks into a truck to take them to Tyler for sale. David Bartlett and Darryl Garcia, identified as co-defendants in this case, reportedly took the tusks from Oklahoma to Tyler. Prosecutors said Bartlett negotiated the sale with a person he thought was a resident of Houston for $10,700. Instead of a buyer, they were met by federal wildlife agents in Tyler.

Both Bartlett and Garcia were previously sentenced in connection to violating the Endangered Species Act in transporting the tusks.

Bartlett was sentenced to one year in federal prison and another year supervised release in February. Garcia was sentenced to two years probation last December, records indicate.