Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 20, 1995 TAG: 9506200095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
The Tazewell County man set out poisoned carcasses to kill animals preying on his gamecocks - trying to save them for a more profitable death in the fighting ring.
Among his victims: a federally protected red-tailed hawk and two golden eagles.
As part of an agreement with the government, Blevins pleaded guilty in March to killing a golden eagle and using a restricted pesticide to kill predators. He was sentenced Monday in federal court in Abingdon.
Although he faced up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine, Blevins received three years' probation and no fine. But he must pay $16,000 in restitution to the state Wildlife Pesticide Kill Investigation Project.
An exception was made in Blevins' probation restrictions; he was allowed to keep his passport so he can travel abroad to market his fighting birds. He's the state's largest breeder of birds for cockfighting, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, a claim Blevins disputes.
Blevins' attorney, David Scyphers, portrayed his client simply as a chicken farmer bedeviled by predators.
But Andy Cortez, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, testified that neighbors and family knew of poaching by Blevins.
Willard Conley, Tazewell County's game warden, was one of the authorities who investigated the case for eight months. He was upset that the breeder didn't get jail time.
"I was disappointed as hell at that federal ruling," Conley said. "There's a reluctance on wildlife cases to treat them as the real crimes they are."
Blevins said he didn't mean to kill an eagle, but he's not even sure the bird was poisoned from his use of the pesticide carbofuran. He said he pleaded guilty because it was "reasonable and probable" that the bird died from his poison.
"I wouldn't kill an eagle," he said. "I love eagles. They're the symbol of my country."
Blevins advertises his birds internationally for $100 and up, with top-of-the-line birds going for $1,500 a trio. He said he has 2,000 birds on his farm in Thompson Valley.
"One rooster sells for $1,000?'' U.S. District Judge James Turk asked Scyphers, as Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Campbell argued that Blevins could afford to fence in his birds.
"Certainly a run-of-the-mill chicken doesn't sell that high," Scyphers responded.
Tazewell County - and Blevins' farm - is in a migratory flyway.
"When an eagle flies over, he looks down and sees half an acre of chickens tied up," Conley said. "That's like you going to Kentucky Fried Chicken and ordering what you want."
Conley was the one called to the scene in February 1994 after a neighboring farmer found a dying golden eagle on his land, foaming at the mouth and unable to stand up. Golden eagles are one of the largest predatory birds, with a wingspan of 12 to 16 feet. They are rare in the East. The bird was taken to a veterinarian, but died the next day, likely from secondary poisoning after eating a poisoned skunk.
Conley also found a dead red-tailed hawk on the neighbor's property. Two days later, he returned and spotted another golden eagle, "dazed" in a tree with its right foot dangling from its body. For three hours, Conley sat under the tree until the bird precariously glided off. He doubts it survived and guesses that the two eagles were a pair.
Golden eagles mate for life and rarely take another mate after their first one dies.
The pesticide Blevins used, carbofuran - marketed as Furadan - is so toxic that it is no longer allowed in Virginia. Blevins said he didn't know that when he bought it. One granule can kill a person.
He said he set the poison out to kill rodents, raccoons, skunks and other small animals. Cortez said in an affidavit, however, that such pesticides are typically used illegally for predatory bird bait. Leg-hold traps meant for birds of prey were found on the property.
by CNB