The Sowinski Files: Undercover agent planted fake tracks to entice targets to set out poison; they didn't
DNR agents also placed secret surveillance cameras to catch lawbreaking; they only captured the removal of a dead eagle the DNR had planted
To recap from Part 1: In 2014, Alvin Sowinski and Paul Sowinski of Sugar Camp were sentenced in federal court for their roles in an alleged wildlife poisoning scheme that included a plea deal in which the Sowinskis each pleaded guilty to a single count of illegally possessing a bald eagle.
In addition to a year of probation, Alvin Sowinski received 120 days of home detention, a $30,000 fine, and a seven-year ban on hunting, fishing, and trapping. Paul Sowinski suffered a $10,000 fine and a five-year ban on hunting, fishing, and trapping, in addition to his one year of probation. Both men paid $100,000 in restitution.
Specifically, Alvin Sowinski stipulated to possessing a dead bald eagle found on the property by law enforcement on May 12, 2010, which he agreed was killed by poison he placed in a bait pile. Paul Sowinski stipulated that he knowingly possessed a bald eagle discovered by law enforcement on May 12, 2010.
But while the Sowinskis acknowledge their guilt, investigatory documents obtained through an open records request with the state Department of Natural Resources raise a host of separate questions about the conduct of the government itself.
To prove their suspicions of wildlife poisoning, the federal and state governments expended enough resources and investigatory techniques to be worthy of an organized crime probe. They chased uncorroborated information from anonymous sources, used mapping and aerial imaging programs, installed secret video cameras in the woods, and sent in an undercover agent to trap both animals and the Sowinskis.
In addition, they planted dead animals—and fake animal tracks—on the Sowinskis’ land in a futile attempt to get them to set out poison baits. More than that, they searched the property multiple times without warrants, and in the end charged onto the Sowinski and neighboring properties with throngs of federal and state agents.
All totaled, including those assisting at a command center and interviewing potential witnesses in various locations, approximately 50 federal and state agents were involved in a May 12, 2010, raid of the property.
Today, undercover with ‘Ted Gilbertson’ ….
The state first went over the top when it went under the covers with covert agent Ted Dremel, aka Ted Gilbertson from Racine.
In early 2010, DNR special agent David Goldsworthy—after several false starts in previous years in which the DNR had unsuccessfully investigated the Sowinskis for possibly poisoned eagles, then wolves, then eagles again and then bears—had a better idea: He contacted Dremel, a warden from Waupaca, to assist in the case.
The idea was to send Dremel in undercover, and thus Gilbertson was born. As Gilbertson, Dremel was to go the Sowinski farm and ask for permission to trap coyote as a way to validate complaints about wolves, which was then the investigation’s focus. Dremel made his way there “in plain clothes” and managed to meet with Alvin Sowinski, who told Dremel he could trap.
Ultimately, after months of trying to nail the Sowinskis, Dremel’s efforts came up empty. But, as the case record shows, it wasn’t for lack of trying.
I’ll traps predatory coyote (that I brought to your property myself) …