The Honorable Raymond L. Erickson, Chief Magistrate Judge, District of Minnesota
Victoria L. Miller, Judicial Assistant/Calendar Clerk: 218-529-3520
U. S. District Court, Duluth Building
417 Federal Building, 515 W. 1st Street, Room 412; Duluth, MN 55802-1397
ph: 218-529-3500, 218-529-3585; fax: 218-529-3505
general email, U.S. District Court, Minnesota: Kristine_Wegner@mnd.uscourts.gov
Office of the U.S. Attorney, District of Minnesota
600 U.S. Courthouse, 300 South Fourth Street; Minneapolis, MN 55415
ph: 612-664-5600, 888-264-5107; Rachel K. Paulose, United States Attorney: 612-664-5600
*Comments should be directed to the US Attorneys Office by mail or telephone
COPY:
Sony Music USA (Gentry's record label)
web email: http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi
Sony phone numbers: http://www.sonymusic.com/about/corpcomm.html
Sony Music Online Services; 550 Madison Ave, 24th Fl; New York, NY 10022-3211
The Honorable Raymond L. Erickson, Ms. Victoria L. Miller, and U.S. Attorney/District of Minnesota:
Please accept my comments about country singer Troy Lee Gentry of Franklin, Tenn. and Lee Marvin Greenly of Sandstone, Minn., who denied wrongdoing in the 2004 slaughter of a domesticated black bear in Minnesota. I understand Gentry and Greenly pleaded innocent to federal charges in U.S. District Court in Duluth, Minn. on August 15, 2006 — following a Minneapolis federal grand jury's indictment alleging the men had falsely stated the bear, Cubby, was destroyed in the wild.
In fact, Greenly, proprietor of the Minnesota Wildlife Connection in Sandstone, had acquired Cubby to pose for his wildlife photography company. Gentry purchased the docile animal for about $4,650 and reportedly used a bow and arrow to kill him at close range inside a pen on Greenly's land. According to federal prosecutors, a videotape of the slaying was subsequently altered to look as if Gentry hunted Cubby in a legal manner. Greenly and Gentry even labeled the bear with a Minnesota hunting license and registered him with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources before mailing his hide to a Kentucky taxidermist to construct a trophy.
The defendants went to great lengths to disguise a “canned hunt.” At typical canned hunt ranches, trophy collectors pay for the thrill of killing staked, hobbled, caged or fenced animals who are familiar with human contact. It is unlikely that Cubby viewed Gentry as a predator. As his killer approached, Cubby probably leaned toward him in anticipation of food.
As you know, the federal Lacey Act bars traffic in wildlife, fish and plants that are illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold. I urge vigorous prosecution in this case. If convicted, Gentry and Greenly deserve the maximum five years in federal prison and $20,000 fine for fraudulent tags. In addition, Greenly ought to be sentenced to five years in prison plus a $20,000 fine per each of two charges that he illegally constructed and sustained numerous bear-baiting stations and hunting stands in areas where two clients gunned down two black bears in 2005.
The grand jury returned an indictment based on probable cause that these defendants broke the law. For that reason alone, I respectfully ask they are prosecuted and sentenced to the full extent of the law. From an ethical perspective, Gentry and Greenly might as well pick off puppies in a pet-shop window. Even traditional hunters believe canned hunts violate the basic principle of "fair chase."
I thank you for your valuable time and consideration in this disturbing case.
Sincerely,
