The old Cap'n Buddy sported flashy rings as he crowed about his good fortune. A Rolex on his wrist, he covered his feet in snakeskin boots and boasted on a homemade Internet video that he's "old and bold and full of gold."
Today the captain is a little less full.
After a two-year sting operation in which federal agents posed as law-breaking hunters, 73-year-old Levin Faulkner Harrison III pleaded guilty yesterday to overseeing the illegal killing of Canada geese in excess of the daily limit.
A federal magistrate judge in Baltimore imposed a $5,000 fine on the self-described "Boss Hogg of Tilghman Island." She also ordered Harrison to contribute $675 to a wildlife fund and took away his commercial hunter guide license.
The hunting violations were nothing new for Harrison, who is descended from a family of the island's largest private landowners yet introduces himself as the fun-lovin' Cap'n Buddy. He has had six prior misdemeanor convictions for breaking laws designed to protect fishing and oystering in the Chesapeake Bay, lawyers said.
One prosecutor called him "a bit of a scofflaw."
Yet Harrison again avoided prison time. He could have faced a maximum penalty of six months behind bars and a $15,000 fine, but that wasn't part of the "Buddy Plan" - also the name of his old boat.
"The government does not believe that's necessary to deter Mr. Harrison," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Romano, who recommended the no-prison sentence as part of a plea agreement.
Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner agreed but warned Harrison that he risked time behind bars if he breaks game laws again.
"You can't do that anymore," Gesner chided. "I hope you take this seriously."
Harrison remained somewhat defiant after the hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore yesterday. Dressed in a blue suit with decidedly less bling, Harrison explained that his online video caught the attention of federal agents who eventually charged him with hunting violations.
"They thought I had money so they come after me," he said.
The music video called "Laugh Your Bass Off" and posted on goodoleboysoutdoors.com (registration required) shows Harrison sniffing a wad of hundred-dollar bills.
"Cap'n Buddy's my name, fishin' my game," he says on the video while bikini-clad women dance behind him on his boat.
Later, he jokes on the video, "It ain't never easy being me."
