A 30-year-old Pace man arrested for stealing Smokey Bear signs from a series of state parks last year was indicted by a federal grand jury on the charge of theft of government property.
The indictment of Hunter Drake Lovett was announced Monday by U.S. Attorney John Heekin for the Northern District of Florida.
Lovett, who faces up to 10 years in prison, is set to have a jury trial start July 20 before U.S. District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II, according to the release from the U.S. attorney’s office.
The release from the U.S. attorney’s office states that an “indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury.”
Last July, Lovett was arrested for allegedly taking Smokey Bear signs from state parks in Pensacola, Panama City and Orlando, which he attempted to sell through Facebook Marketplace.
At the time, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson posted on X: “What happens when dumb criminals poke the bear?”
“Our Ag Law Team has a suspect in custody who traveled from Pensacola to Orlando stealing Smoky Bear signs from our state forests and selling them on Facebook Marketplace for $1,900 each,” Simpson continued.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service with assistance from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, Eufaula Alabama Police Department, and Florida Forest Service.
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
