87-3-118. Felony sale or possession of wildlife -- penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of sale of unlawfully taken wildlife if the person purposely or knowingly:
     (a) sells, barters, purchases, or exchanges unlawfully taken wildlife for anything of value; or
     (b) offers to sell, barter, purchase, or exchange unlawfully taken wildlife for anything of value.
     (2) A person commits the offense of possession of unlawfully taken wildlife having a value of more than $1,000 if the person purposely or knowingly has actual or constructive possession of or transports or causes to be transported unlawfully taken wildlife having a value of more than $1,000. The value of the unlawfully taken wildlife must be determined from the schedule of restitution values set out in 87-1-111.
     (3) (a) A person commits the offense of unlawful sale or possession of wildlife if the person purposely or knowingly:
     (i) sells, barters, purchases, or exchanges wildlife for anything of value;
     (ii) attempts to sell, barter, purchase, or exchange wildlife for anything of value;
     (iii) transports, causes to be transported, or is in the process of transporting out of state wildlife for purposes of sale, barter, purchase, or exchange for anything of value.
     (b) For the purposes of this subsection (3), "wildlife" includes the edible meat, internal organs, tissue, fluids, or sex organs of wildlife having a value of more than $1,000 or edible meat of wildlife in excess of 150 pounds, except meat allowed to be sold under the provisions of 71-3-1505.
     (c) For purposes of determining the total pounds of edible meat of wildlife, any nonwildlife meat or ingredients mixed with the meat of wildlife must be included in the total.
     (4) For purposes of this section, the value of all wildlife actually or constructively possessed, transported, sold, bartered, bought, or exchanged for anything of value within a 45-day period must be added together to determine whether the value of the wildlife is greater than $1,000.
     (5) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be fined not more than $50,000 or be imprisoned in the state prison for a term not to exceed 5 years, or both. In addition, a person convicted under this section or who pleads guilty to a violation of this section shall lose all hunting, fishing, and trapping permits and license privileges for a minimum of 3 years or up to a maximum of a lifetime revocation from the date of conviction.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 329, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 30, Ch. 417, L. 1995.