Vern Evans
Gator hunter and “Swamp People” personality Troy Landry, 63, was charged with two counts of failing to tag an alligator on Sept. 19 after he was caught in a sting operation by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The LDWF law enforcement office had received an anonymous call the day prior tipping them off to unauthorized gator lines with white flagging on Lake Palourde in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, according to an incident report acquired by Outdoor Life.
Sgts. Jake Darden and Harry Gaines arrived at Lake Palourde at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 19 to stake out the area. Upon their arrival, they found the lines that the tipster had mentioned on the phone. (The tipster had claimed that he and his friend were the only ones with permission to run gator lines on the lake.) A live 7- to 8-foot alligator was hooked on one of the lines in question.
It wasn’t until 1:43 p.m. that game wardens watched a vessel approach the lines from their concealed stakeout spot. Landry was in the boat, along with a second suspect, a 28-year-old woman who LDWF officials declined to name due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, and an unidentified camera man. The wardens watched as the second suspect lifted the line and told Landry that the gator was “a good one” and to grab the spear. Landry then speared the gator and the duo pulled it onto the boat, dispatching it. At this point, the game wardens abandoned their stakeout and approached the boat.
When the wardens greeted Landry and the other suspects, Landry replied that “that they were doing good and just scouting.” He also told the officers he had permission to hunt he property, which the game wardens confirmed was true (contrary to the tipster’s claim) with a call to the property owner.
“Mr. Landry said that every alligator in the vessel at the time was from the Atchafalaya Basin area and were tagged as such,” writes Gaines in the report. “I collected the tag numbers on every alligator to confirm the area to which the tags were assigned. I confirmed that none of the tag numbers matched any of the tags that were assigned for this area… “
That’s when Gaines read Landry and his companion their Miranda rights.
“I asked Mr. Landry about the alligator that we saw him take [off] the first alligator line,” writes Gaines. “Mr. Landry stated that they didn’t take an alligator from the property. After proving to him that we were watching the entire time, Mr. Landry admitted that he took the alligator from this area but could not find the tags that were gifted to him for this hunt. Due to him not being able to find the proper tags, he tagged the alligator with [a tag good in Iberville Parish]. Mr. Landry also admitted that prior to agents making contact with him, he cut a dead ‘stiff’ alligator loose from his line and let it float away.”
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After ticketing Landry and his companion, and seizing the boat, engine, and alligator, the wardens located the dead gator in question. It had the same type of line that Landry was using floating from its mouth. The untagged gator did not appear to be salvaged, but LDWF was able to sell the improperly-tagged gator.
Failure to tag an alligator is a class four violation in Louisiana. It carries a sentence of up to 120 days in prison and $950 in fines. Landry will appear in court for a civil restitution hearing on Nov. 20 and in criminal court on Jan. 25. Landry told local news station WAFB-TV that he had “nothing to say” about the charges, adding, “I got a speeding ticket also last month but I have nothing to say about it.”
“‘King of the Swamp’ Troy Landry is one of the most well-known and fearless alligator hunters in the bayou,” reads Landry’s cast bio on the History Channel. “As the son of a fisherman and seafood distributor, Troy has gator hunting in his blood. He consistently fills more tags than any swamper in the Louisiana.”
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