Paul Simmons Jr., 23, was sentenced to six to 17 months in prison by Superior Court Judge W. Allen Cobb Jr.

BURGAW -- A Brunswick County man was found guilty Tuesday by a Pender County jury of felony taking of a Venus' flytrap, a rare carnivorous plant found in Southeastern North Carolina.

Paul Simmons Jr., 23, was sentenced to six to 17 months in prison by Superior Court Judge W. Allen Cobb Jr., according to a news release from the Pender County District Attorney's Office.

On Jan. 3, 2015, a Wildlife Resources Commission officer found 970 Venus' flytraps in a vehicle driven by Simmons Jr. near the Holly Shelter Game Land in Hampstead, the release said. He was charged along with Malcolm Massey, Jimmy Wortham and Paul Simmons Sr.

Massey and Simmons Sr. pleaded guilty last year and received a sentence of 24 months of supervised probation.

Charges against Jimmy Wortham are still pending. His next court date is Aug. 12, the release said.

At the time Simmons Jr. was charged, the N.C. Nature Conservancy estimated that only 35,000 plants remained in the wild. Because of the poaching threat, taking a Venus' flytrap in North Carolina was elevated to a felony on Dec. 1, 2014. Simmons Jr. and his co-defendants were the first to be charged with the felony offense in North Carolina, according to the DA's office.

Simmons’ prior convictions include misdemeanor receiving stolen goods, misdemeanor breaking and entering, and misdemeanor larceny.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Erika Jones. The investigation was conducted by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the Pender County Sheriff's Office.

Reporter Jim Ware can be reached at 910-343-2387 or Jim.Ware@StarNewsOnline.com.