Washington Hunting Guide and Outfitting Company Plead Guilty to Lacey Act Violations

Prized by hunters as a rare trophy, the harlequin duck is a coveted piece of the challenge to bag all 41 North American waterfowl species. For Branden Trager, a hunting guide from Brush Prairie, Washington, and his outfitting company, Mayhem Services LLC, the allure of dropping a harlequin proved too tempting, leading him down a path of deception that finally unraveled in a federal courtroom in Tacoma earlier this week.

The story kicked off in the fall of 2022, when Trager led a group of hunters into the wilds of British Columbia, Canada, chasing the elusive harlequin duck. The season in Washington was closed, but British Columbia allowed limited hunting, and Trager saw an opportunity, despite not being licensed to guide in Canada. Undeterred, he pressed forward, spinning a tale for Canadian and U.S. Homeland Security officials, stating that he was merely hunting with friends, rather than running a commercial operation. The lie was a thin veil, but it held—for a while.

In addition to attempting to run an international harlequin ring, Trager’s group broke the rules in multiple ways including using a motor vehicle to pursue the ducks, exceeding daily bag limits, and failing to properly tag the birds. But the real trouble (as if those violations weren’t enough) came when Trager conspired with a Canadian taxidermist to smuggle the prized ducks back into the United States. Serving as a direct violation of the nation’s oldest wildlife trafficking law, it didn’t take long before both American and Canadian authorities took notice of the flagrant Lacey Act violation.

A joint investigation spearheaded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement, alongside Homeland Security Investigations, British Columbia Conservation Officer Service, and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, began piecing together the trail of deceit. With proof of unauthorized hunts and illicit shipments, by January of 2023, the evidence was ironclad, and Trager’s operation was exposed.

In the Tacoma courtroom, Trager and Mayhem Services stood before the judge, their heads bowed as they entered guilty pleas. The consequences were steep: a recommended $100,000 fine for Trager and $75,000 for his company, totaling $175,000. More than that, they agreed to make a public apology, a humbling acknowledgement of their wrongdoing and a well deserved call to respect the laws that protect wildlife. 

Prosecutors Ryan Connors and Sarah Brown from the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, with support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, wove the case together, ensuring that the story of the harlequin hunt would serve as a warning to others.

Sentencing is currently set for October 16, 2025.