Deer Breeder Sentenced for Smuggling

TYLER (AP) — A licensed deer breeder from Austin must serve three years of probation for illegally transporting wildlife in east Texas. U.S. Attorney John Bales says 41-year-old Lance Clawson was sentenced Wednesday in Tyler. Clawson on April 14 pleaded guilty to smuggling whitetail deer from Oklahoma into Texas. He also was fined $15,000 and must pay $7,250 in restitution to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

Investigators say Clawson, who operates a ranch and deer breeding facility near Goldthwaite, traveled to Muskogee, Okla., on Oct. 15, 2008, to buy fawns from a breeder. Clawson’s vehicle was stopped the following day by Texas game wardens as he returned with eight fawns. Texas law bans importing live whitetail or mule deer due to the threat of transmittable diseases.