Brass Scales of Justice over white

A New Iberia man and his son, a juvenile, were found guilty in 16th Judicial District Court in Iberia Parish for the 2015 killing of a Louisiana black bear near Weeks Island.

Judge Gregory Aucoin sentenced Elie Dupre, 60, to pay $2,500 in civil restitution for delinquency of a juvenile for his role in his son’s illegal taking of a Louisiana black bear.

The juvenile son of Elie Dupre was found guilty for taking a bear during a closed season after he fatally shot a Louisiana black bear  in November 2015. Aucoin sentenced the juvenile to serve 100 hours of community service, suspended his hunting privileges for one year and ordered him to retake a hunter’s education course.

State Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents cited Dupre and his son on June 23, 2017, for their actions in the illegal shooting of a Louisiana black bear two years earlier.

The nine-year-old, 250-pound female black bear was part of a long-term monitoring program and wore a tracking collar for more than eight years. The bear wore the tracking collar that provided researchers with valuable information on black bear populations, productivity and population viability in the state of Louisiana.

Assistant District Attorney Angelique Narcisse prosecuted the case for the state.