JACKSON COUNTY, Ala. — Countless hours of investigation involving multiple agencies earlier this year culminated in guilty pleas from a flagrant violator of numerous Alabama wildlife laws.
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officials declined to identify the person, but according to Jackson County Assistant District Attorney Krystina Jackson, the violator is Jacob Clinton Galloway from Section, Ala. on Sand Mountain.
During the investigation, enforcement officers were able to recover two rifles that were thrown from the perpetrator’s vehicle. (Photo courtesy Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)
Galloway was convicted on numerous wildlife violations, however he was also already a convicted felon. So in addition to his fines and penalties for the hunting violations, Galloway was sent back to prison for two concurrent 15 year sentences for possession of a firearm (as a convicted felon) and for felony “attempting to elude.” He was also fined about $5,000 for the hunting violations and forfeited all of the recovered firearms.
The investigation started with a night hunting complaint to Sgt. Matt Moran, an Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officer, who relayed the information to his supervisor, Lt. Greg Elrod.
“We had been receiving calls in Jackson and DeKalb counties about hearing a gunshot at night,” Lt. Elrod said. “We would work it and come up with nothing. We were working in conjunction with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). They gave us information that kind of pieced together a lot of our complaints and the areas where they were coming from.“What his M.O. (modus operandi) was, he would shoot a deer and leave immediately. He would come back six, eight, 10 hours later and retrieve it in a different vehicle. His wife or friend would drop him off. This guy was night hunting and road hunting every day. He was killing deer everywhere without permission,” Lt. Elrod said. “We think he had been doing it for a couple of years and is responsible for a lot of the complaints we had been receiving.”
Finally, while working a night hunting detail, officers spotted the subject driving down the road shining fields. A high-pursuit ensued with officers finally getting Galloway stopped, after he had thrown weapons out of the vehicle.
Lt. Greg Elrod found this .450 cartridge in the road that led to the discovery of firearms used by the night hunting perpetrator. (Photo courtesy Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)
With the help of a citizen, officers were able to locate a .450 cartridge and two rifles.
“After executing a search warrant, we found narcotics and ammunition at the residence,” Lt. Elrod said. “The task force arrested him on narcotics and firearms-related charges, and the judge revoked his bond.”
After further investigation, the multiple-agency task force discovered that the Toyota Tundra owned by Galloway was parked at another residence. The truck was impounded and a warrant was obtained to search the vehicle.
“We recovered seven additional firearms, 15 deer racks and ammunition,” Lt. Elrod said. “Several of those deer were freshly harvested. This turned into a very large investigation.”
For her diligent work on the case, Lt. Elrod nominated Asst. DA Jackson for the AWF (Alabama Wildlife Federation) Governor’s Conservation Achievement Award for judicial, and she won it.
“She worked with us day and night on these search warrants,” said Lt. Elrod. “The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department also assisted with the search warrants. This would have not been possible without their assistance.”