Bryson City repeat ginseng poacher sentenced in Asheville

ASHEVILLE – A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a repeat ginseng poacher to six months in jail for the illegal possession or harvesting of the plant.

Billy Joe Hurley, 47, of Bryson City, was convicted at trial Wednesday for illegally possessing more than 500 ginseng roots he dug in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said Jill Westmoreland Rose, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

On Thursday, magistrate judge Dennis Howell sentenced Hurley, who had been convicted four times previously for ginseng poaching.

Hurley was charged on June 28 in Swain County with possessing more than 500 ginseng roots he had illegally dug. Court records show that Hurley had filled a backpack with the roots and attempted to hide it behind a guardrail beside a hiking trail.

National park staff replanted the recovered viable roots but estimated that at best, 50 percent of the replanted roots are likely to survive, Rose said.

According to court records, Hurley was sentenced in August 2014 to five months and 15 days in jail for the illegal possession or harvesting of ginseng from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“The illegal harvesting of American ginseng poses a threat to this precious national resource and it is a crime our office takes very seriously,” said Rose. “We will continue to work closely with the rangers of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to protect wild ginseng from extinction and to prosecute those who profit from the illegal harvesting of ginseng roots.”

The wild roots of American ginseng are a highly-prized tonic, particularly in Asian markets. According to the park service, the American ginseng species is under severe pressure from poachers in the Smokies and may not be sustainable if it continues to be harvested illegally. Fresh ginseng can bring up to $200 per pound on the black market.

Ginseng was recently placed on the North Carolina watch list for plants in peril because of exploitation. Each year law enforcement rangers seize between 500 and 1,000 illegally poached ginseng roots, according to authorities.