Sportsman Gets Jail for Collection of Stuffed Birds

Holding a leather hat with a long plume in it, a 36-year-old Reseda man Friday received a 90-day jail sentence and a $2,500 fine for possession of 21 state-protected birds that were found stuffed and mounted in his apartment.

William V. Richardson also must serve 36 months’ probation under unusual terms: He is to perform 150 hours of taxidermy at a county museum and pay the fine to two local bird preservation groups.

When law enforcement officials searched Richardson’s apartment last December, they found a bird collection that included exotic black-crowned night herons, great horned owls, long-billed curlews and a belted kingfisher. The rarest was a great egret.

‘Consider Yourself Lucky’

Richardson, whose automobile license plate reads “Bullet 3,” could have received a maximum sentence of 11 1/2 years in jail and a $22,000 fine. In sentencing the beefy sportsman, who was wearing a hunting jacket, Van Nuys Muncipal Court Judge Terry Smerling said, “I think you should consider yourself lucky.”

State Department of Fish and Game officials were tipped to Richardson’s cache by a neighbor who reporting seeing the mounted birds, as well as the carcasses of four birds in Richardson’s freezer. The subsequent search of Richardson’s apartment turned up the 21 birds, 19 rifles and 8 pistols, most of which used pellets as ammunition, according to court documents.

When confronted by Fish and Game warden Warren Crooker, Richardson said that he had either bought the stuffed birds or killed them after finding them wounded, a report filed with the court said.

Pellets Matched to Guns

But when authorities X-rayed the birds, they discovered that the pellets in the carcasses were of the same type used by the guns found in Richardson’s apartment.

Richardson, who left the court Friday shielding his face with the feather-adorned hat, refused to discuss the case. He was fingerprinted and booked by county marshals and released. His jail sentence will begin June 9, officials said.

Crooker said that witnesses periodically had seen Richardson shoot birds in the Sepulveda Basin. Richardson then would take the carcasses to his apartment, where he stuffed and mounted them, according to Crooker. Officials do not know whether Richardson ever tried to sell the stuffed birds, the game warden said.

“It looks like he just liked to have them around his apartment,” Crooker said.

Richardson pleaded no contest to the charges.

During Richardson’s probation, he will be required to perform the taxidermy at the San Bernadino County Museum of Natural History.

The $2,500 fine Richardson was assessed is to be divided between the San Bernadino Audubon Society Raptor Fund and the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Refuge and Bird Preserve, the judge said.

Must Stay Away From Basin

In addition, the defendant is required to stay at least half a mile away from the Sepulveda Basin for the next three years.

Prosecutor Richard A. Schmidt said Richardon’s sentence is meant to set an example for would-be poachers.

“We want to tell people this is an offense you can’t pay your way out of,” the deputy city attorney said. “If you are poaching or buying these endangered birds, you are breaking the law.”

Schmidt added, “We hope that in 20 years, the only place you’ll be able to see these species of birds won’t be in a museum or nailed to some piece of wood.”

Schmidt said the mounted birds confiscated from Richardson will be donated to the Los Angeles Zoo, the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and the Big Bear Valley Museum of Natural History.

Crooker said the most valuable of the stuffed birds is the great egret, a white heron-like bird that was close to extinction in the early 1900s when its long, filigreed plumes were used to decorate women’s hats. The bird is federally protected and its possession is a crime punishable by a $10,000 fine and year in prison.

Richardson will be eligible for parole from County Jail after serving two-thirds of his sentence, or 60 days.