A Louisiana hunter who shot and killed a lynx Oct. 31 in the Glade north of Dolores has accepted a plea bargain that will cost him more than $18,000 in fines as well as the forfeiture of his ATV and rifle.

Lloyd B. Mulkey, 60, of Deridder, La., pleaded guilty Monday in Dolores County Court to misdemeanor illegal possession of an endangered species. The lynx is on the state’s endangered-species list.

He had been additionally charged with willful destruction of wildlife, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of shooting from a road and having a loaded weapon on a vehicle. Under the plea agreement, those charges were dismissed. Mulkey could have faced a fine of up to $100,000 and up to one year in jail on the endangered-species charge and a fine of up to $10,000, six years in jail, and a lifetime prohibition against hunting for the felony charge.

Mulkey agreed to pay $13,328.22 in restitution to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, which is managing the reintroduction of the Canada lynx in the state, and an additional $5,000 to Operation Game Thief.

Mulkey also agreed to forfeit his ATV and rifle to the DOW and to give up all his Colorado hunting rights and privileges. He will also perform 100 hours of community service in his home state.

Under the agreement, Mulkey will not serve any jail time. He was placed on unsupervised probation for one year.

Mulkey was arrested Nov. 3 by DOW officers Dave Harper and Bob Dickman, who had been searching the Glade area along the Dolores River because the lynx’s radio collar had been emitting a mortality signal. They found the dead feline, a 1-year-old female that had been released in May near Creede, lying some 30 yards from a Forest Service road, according to an affidavit by Harper. It had been shot in the chest but appeared healthy otherwise.

Mulkey and some of his hunting partners drove up on ATVs as Harper and Dickman were examining the scene, according to the affidavit, and at first denied any knowledge of the shooting. Later, however, Mulkey admitted to the officers that he’d shot the animal from the road while sitting on his ATV. When he noticed its collar, he said, he knew he had killed something he shouldn’t have.