On October 28, 2021, commercial waterfowl guide Devin Tibbs, 24, of East New Market, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to one count of aiding and abetting the taking of migratory birds over the daily bag limit. He was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and a $1,500.00 fine. The guilty plea was part of an agreement reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
On January 31, 2020, Tibbs was observed guiding a waterfowl hunting party on his property in Dorchester County by the Maryland Natural Resources Police officers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents. During that time, he took freshly killed ducks from an off-shore blind and hid them inside a garbage can located on-shore. Officers watched as Tibbs ran down several wounded birds with his motorboat under power and shot them during the hunt. In addition to the charge he pled guilty to, Tibbs was charged with criminal information on two counts of taking migratory birds from a motorboat under power, wanton waste, and possessing migratory birds in excess of the field possession limit.