Van Buren man sentenced in lynx case

BANGOR – A Van Buren man was sentenced Thursday to seven days in jail and fined $1,500 after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to possessing a federally protected threatened species.

Kevin Fortin was charged last January after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer found a lynx pelt that was labeled as being a “bobcat” in the back of his truck during an inspection, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Fortin told the agent that another Van Buren man had shot the lynx a few months earlier and brought it to his home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Fortin gave the man two unusual deer antlers in exchange for the lynx, which he then skinned and prepared to tan, prosecutors said.

The lynx is a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.