A 55-year-old Braidwood, Illinois geneticist has been sentenced for acquiring semen from illegally imported deer in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales Wednesday.

Dr. Raymond Favero pleaded guilty on July 11, 2012 to the felony offense of acquiring wildlife in interstate commerce in violation of state law and federal laws and was sentenced to three years probation Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis in Tyler. Favero was also fined $6,000.00 and ordered to pay community restitution in the amount of $24,000.00 to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

According to information presented in court, on Feb. 1, 2007, Favero acquired approximately 184 straws of whitetail deer semen valued at approximately $92,000.00 which he drew from a buck which he knew had been transported illegally from an out-of-state source. Then again, on Jan. 28, 2008, Favero acquired another 110 straws of whitetail deer semen valued at approximately $55,000.00 which he drew from another buck which he knew had been transported illegally from an out of state source.

Favero knew that Texas law prohibits any importation of live whitetail deer or live mule deer due to the threat of diseases transmittable by deer such as Chronic Wasting Disease and bovine tuberculosis. Favero earned a P.H.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992.

This case was investigated by the Special Operations Unit of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble.