South Carolina § 50-1-125 - Wildlife defined; penalties for trafficking in wildlife.

§ 50-1-125. Wildlife defined; penalties for trafficking in wildlife.

Wildlife, as used in this section, means a wild animal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, mollusk, crustacean, or other wild animal, or product, egg, offspring, or the dead body parts of the wildlife.

A person illegally buying, selling, trading, trafficking, or bartering any wildlife, upon conviction, must be punished as follows:

(1) For the first offense, if the money or other consideration exchanged for the wildlife is of a value of two hundred dollars or less, the penalty must be a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or imprisonment for no more than thirty days.

(2) For the first offense, if the money or other consideration exchanged for the wildlife is of a value of more than two hundred dollars, the penalty must be a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or both. In addition, the person convicted shall lose his hunting and fishing privileges for one year from the date of conviction.

(3) For a second offense, within three years of the first offense, the fine must be not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than one year. In addition to this penalty, the person shall lose his hunting and fishing privileges for three years.

(4) For a third or subsequent offense, within three years of the last previous conviction, the fine must be five thousand dollars, no part of which may be suspended, or imprisonment for one year, or both. In addition to this penalty, the person shall lose his hunting and fishing privileges for three years from the date of conviction.

HISTORY: 1988 Act No. 454, SECTION 1; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 1257.