A 21-year-old Volusia County man whose arrest in connection with the illegal hunting and killing of 13 alligators on the St. Johns River in Mims was sentenced to 36 months of probation, drawing condemnation from animal rights groups.
Jacob William Latreille, one of four suspects arrested Sept. 22, 2025, in the April 2025 incident, had withdrawn a guilty plea and pleaded no contest to 13 charges of killing an alligator. During his May 14 appearance before Brevard County Judge Clarissa Harrell, Latreille was also given a three-year suspension of all hunting and fishing privileges in Florida.
Two of Latreille’s codefendants, Wyatt Lowe and Robert Martin, both of Titusville, were also arrested Sept. 22. Both pleaded no contest to the charges in separate sentencings. Lowe was handed 18 months of probation on May 7, while Martin, also given 18 months of probation, was sentenced on March 17. Their fishing and hunting licenses were suspended for three years, court records show. Another codefendant, Luke Landry, of Edgewater, was also arrested on the same charges, but his case has not gone trial or been resolved, court records show.
Court records show that Latreille did not have any of the mandatory CITES or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species tags issued by the Fish and Wildlife agency for hunting the alligators. Typically, alligator hunters are issued a trapping license, a harvest permit for a specific area and two CITE tags, the agency’s website reports.
Latreille, joined by several people on his airboat under cover of night, used a flashlight to guide excursions on the St. Johns River near Hatbill Ramp in April 2025, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission reported.
The boaters snatched several alligators from the water during several late-night hunting trips, FWC agents said. Several of the videos ended up posted to Snapchat. Officers combing through Latreille’s phone found evidence showing that alligators were captured and thrown into the front hatch of the airboat Latreille was operating.
Officers said he steered the boat to the alligators and gave others directions about bringing the alligators aboard. Some of the alligators appeared to be alive, court records show. The agency reported that Latreille then hunted down and captured the reptiles, posing with the dead animals in videos and photos.
The incident and punishment drew attention from animal rights groups and prompted a petition drive, supporting the prosecution of Latreille and his codefendants, by In Defense of Animals. The petition had 8,904 signatures, the international animal advocacy group reported.
“Wildlife advocates and enforcement officials recognize that light sentencing when individuals intentionally disregard conservation laws and engage in large-scale poaching is not a deterrent,” said In Defense of Animals’ Justice for Animals Senior Campaigner Doll Stanley in a May 14 statement.
“Get tough laws, and community awareness is key in protecting wildlife. However, the sentencing handed down does not reflect the serious sentencing the public would expect in this case.”
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Volusia man gets probation in poaching, killing of 13 alligators in Mims
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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