PORTLAND — A Pendleton man is the latest offender to receive a federal court sentence for poaching bull trout.

Tyler Glenn Chance Warren, 31, is serving three years of federal probation and a three-year fishing ban after illegally taking bull trout from the Metolius River in the Deschutes National Forest.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon on Wednesday, July 14, announced Warren’s sentencing in a press release, which also includes a $1,000 fine and 40 hours of community service.

Warren is the fourth Oregon resident convicted in federal court for illegally taking bull trout from area waters since Operation No Bull, a coordinated anti-poaching law enforcement operation, launched in 2017. The operation has resulted in criminal charges, civil penalties or citations for more 30 bull trout poachers in federal, state and tribal courts.

According to court documents, on Dec. 3, 2017, Warren and co-defendant Thomas R. Campbell, 30, of Culver, illegally took several bull trout from the Metolius River and the Eyerly Property, a portion of protected land adjacent to the Metolius near its confluence with Lake Billy Chinook.

The United States holds the Eyerly Property in trust for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Only tribal members may access the site.

Campbell on Dec. 4, 2017, posted a photo on Instagram of himself holding a juvenile bull trout, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported. Another Instagram post showed Warren holding a bull trout on the Metolius. Investigators later found more photos on Campbell’s phone, including several that Campbell and Warren had texted to each other on Dec. 3.

One of the photos depicted Warren holding a bull trout over a cast iron pan containing steaming fish meat. Another depicted Warren holding a dead bull trout with a beer can wedged in its mouth.

The press release stated Warren transported the fish to his residence at the time in Redmond, where he texted Campbell two additional photos of resealable bags filled with bull trout fillets.

Investigators suspect Warren took at least four bull trout from the Metolius on Dec. 3, according to the press release, but the exact number is unknown.

Federal prosecutors on Sept. 9, 2019, charged Warren, Campbell and a third co-defendant, Joshua Alan Hanslovan, 29, of Albany, with violating the Lacey Act. All three men later waived indictment and pleaded guilty.

The court sentenced Campbell on Nov. 23, 2020, to five years’ federal probation, a $6,000 fine and 300 hours of community service on habitat restoration and conservation projects. Hanslovan on June 16 received a sentence of three years of federal probation, a three-year angling ban, and 125 hours of community service.

Between those sentences, the federal court on Dec. 7, 2020, handed down five years’ probation to a fourth poacher, Tyrone T. Wacker, 42, of Culver, along with a three-year angling and hunting ban, a $1,000 fine and 90 hours of community service.

The fines in these cases go to the Lacey Act Reward Account, a fund to provide monetary awards to those who provide information about wildlife crimes and to pay costs incurred caring for fish, wildlife or plants held as evidence in ongoing investigations.

“Bull trout are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and are vulnerable to overfishing,” according to the press release. “Poaching represents a lethal threat to their recovery. Today, bull trout inhabit less than half of their historic range. Central Oregon’s Metolius River is an important spawning ground for the fish and helps to populate other waters. Bull trout are revered by anglers and are an important Tribal resource.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case, along with the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Branch of Natural Resources, and U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations. Will McLaren and Pam Paaso, Assistant U.S. attorneys for the District of Oregon, handled the prosecution.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for protecting America’s wildlife from poaching, illegal commercialization and other kinds of wildlife crime. If you have information related to a wildlife crime, please call 844-397-8477 or email fws_tips@fws.gov.

State court records show Oregon State Police cited Warren in December 2020 for hunting in Union County’s Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area when it was closed. OSP also reported he took responsibility for that violation and for not realizing his brother, who was with him, didn’t have a hunting license.

He pleaded no contest in that case and paid a fine of $116.50.