Texas Man Arrested on Fraud and Theft Charges in Louisiana

Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries 04.16.13

A Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division agent arrested a Texas man on several alleged felony fraud and theft violations this morning, April 16.

LDWF Sgt. Louis Burnett arrested Trac T. Tran, 41, of Seadrift, Texas, on seven felony violations and booked him into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. The seven felonies are for two counts of filing false documents, two counts of injuring public records and three counts of theft.

Sgt. Burnett began his investigation of Tran on March 18, 2013, after Tran was denied renewal of his Louisiana residential commercial fishing license, residential commercial vessel license and residential crab trap gear license. Tran attempted to renew these licenses with a Texas driver’s license.

After completing his investigation, Sgt. Burnett determined that Tran was a Texas resident who also illegally obtained Louisiana residential commercial fishing, vessel and crab trap licenses in 2010 and 2011. The difference in costs between the residential and non-residential commercial licenses was $525 for each of the three years, which makes the total theft from the state $1,575.

Filing false public records and injuring public records each brings up to five years with or without hard labor or up to a $5,000 fine for each count. Theft of more than $1,500 carries up to a $3,000 fine and 10 years in jail for each count.

Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries – Enforcement Division(LDWF) is the fish & game regulatory agency of Louisiana. It has jurisdictionanywhere in the state, and in state territorial waters. The agency enforces both state and federal laws dealing with hunting, fishing, and boating safety. The agency also enforces criminal laws in rural areas including DWI enforcement both on highways and waterways. Most of the Department’s Wildlife Agents also carry Federal law enforcement commissions issued from the United States Department of the Interior - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and United States Department of Commerce - U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). These federal commissions allow these state officers to enforce federal migratory waterfowl laws and federal marine fisheries laws in state and federal waters off the coast of Louisiana. Besides their traditional role as a “game warden”, Louisiana Wildlife Enforcement Agents also have a number of other responsibilities, including conducting board of health inspections on some portions of the state’s commercial fishing industry. Agents are trained in and conduct numerous search and rescue operations, both in remote land areas and on the state’s waterways. Agents ensure that hunters, anglers, boaters, dealers, breeders, farmers, and transporters are in compliance with regulations governing equipment, quotas, licenses, and registrations. Agents also assist other State departments and law enforcement agencies in the coordination of educational and professional endeavors, as well as national and state emergency alerts by the Federal Office of Emergency Preparedness. In addition, agents perform search and rescue missions alone or in conjunction with other local, state, and federal agencies.