Two Men Ordered to Pay $86,000 in Total Fines and Restitution for Illegal Deer Hunting Operation in Fayette County

Jackson, TN - A federal judge has ordered Austin Elrod, 30, of Somerville, Tennessee, to surrender his hunting license for 5 years and to pay a total of $60,000 for an illegal deer hunting operation. D. Michael Dunavant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

An investigation by several law enforcement agencies revealed that Elrod was guiding white-tailed deer hunts in the Fayette County area without the required guiding license. The guided hunts were advertised on Facebook and resulted in the illegal harvesting of seven deer throughout the 2021 and 2022 hunting seasons. Elrod's clients included out-of-state hunters from Georgia.

One of these hunters was Thomas Boswell, 39, of Barnesville, Georgia. Boswell participated in the guided hunts without a Tennessee hunting license and was responsible for the illegal harvesting of five of the deer. The harvested deer would then be transported to Georgia.

Fayette County is designated by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) as a Chronic Wasting Disease Zone. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological illness that is contagious to members of the deer family. There is currently no known cure for the disease.

Prosecutors charged Elrod and Boswell with violating the Lacey Act, a federal conservation law that bans the trafficking of illegally harvested wildlife.

At Elrod's sentencing hearing on October 21, 2026, Senior United States District Judge J. Daniel Breen placed him on 1 year of probation and ordered that Elrod's hunting privileges be suspended for a period of 5 years. In addition, Elrod was ordered to pay a $40,000 fine and $20,000 in restitution. Boswell was sentenced in July 2026 and was ordered by Judge Breen to pay a $15,000 fine and $11,000 in restitution. Boswell's hunting privileges were ordered suspended for a period of 18 months.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "The U.S. Attorney's Office is a full-service federal prosecution office, and we have the ability and intention to charge any violations of federal law, no matter where they occur in the Western District of Tennessee. These prosecutions demonstrate our commitment to upholding the rule of law, and to pursuing any cases that harm and impact our rural communities. We commend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and TWRA for their diligent and thorough work in this successful investigation and appreciate our partnerships with them."

"America's wildlife belongs to all of us. Those who take it illegally put their own interests ahead of everyone who hunts responsibly, values wildlife, and wants healthy populations for the next generation," said Assistant Director Doug Ault, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement. "Strong partnerships with our state counterparts make this work possible. Together, we will hold those who violate wildlife laws accountable."

This case was investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Assistant United States Attorney Immanuel Chioco prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

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