A Florida couple faces felony charges after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers arrested the two for trapping an alligator out-of-season, killing it, severing its tail and attempting to sell the tail meat to neighbors.
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The Lakeland Ledger reports that Shaun Edward Sparks and Christy Vincent were arrested in Lakeland on Sunday after a neighbor alerted a Fish and Wildlife Conservation officer about their entrepreneurial — and illegal — activities. The FWC law enforcement officer was in the neighborhood on unrelated duties, according to the Ledger.
Sparks, 33, faces two charges related to possessing and killing alligators; he was jailed with $1000 bond. Vincent, 27, faces one charge around the sale of alligator meat, and remains in jail on $500 bond.
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Florida’s alligator hunting season begins on August 15, and permits are awarded by public lottery alone.
“Maybe an hour before some people asked me if I wanted to buy gator tail […] They were going all over the neighborhood asking people,” said neighbor Cathy Carter. Three other neighbors interviewed by FWC officers said the same.
In a police report, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation officer documented “a 3-foot alligator tail” in the home shared by Sparks and Vincent. Sparks allegedly confessed to the killing, telling the FWC officer that he severed the tail and took it home to show his girlfriend before the two went to neighbors attempting to sell it.