10/23/2026
Very special thank you to investigative journalist Mollye Barrows for attending the pre-trial conference this morning for the three men charged with illegally killing our community alligator with a powerdrill.
Still no explanation of why they were not charged with the felony that the law requires. A central Florida man was just hit with the proper felony charge last week for illegally killing an alligator, but so far, still no felonies for these guys.
Too bad the guy in central Florida isn't a former Navy SEAL I guess?
Their attorney wants to argue that once upon a time (over two years ago), Lacz was issued a permit for the alligator.
Again, "used to have a permit" is of no import.
You either have a permit, or you don’t.
And if you do, you follow the law, and painlessly dispatch the animal on site. You don't illegally transport it alive to your house and then choose to kill it however you want. That sounds so sadistic to me. A powerdrill? Really?
There are zero other circumstances in Florida where "I used to have a license two years ago" would get any of us out of trouble had we broken the law.
Unless of course....we knew Clint Eastwood 🥴
After viewing the body cam footage (you kind find if you scroll down or search Mollye Barrows' page), I believe proper felony charges would have been filed if it wasn't for the single MyFWC Florida Fish and Wildlife officer that seemed in my opinion to be enamored with Lacz's celebrity. He consistently throughout the video seemed to go out of his way to "find" a lesser charge. Watch the tape for yourself. It's all there.
If we allow our wildlife to be killed illegally and in such a heinous manner with no ramifications, it sets a dangerous precedent for poachers everywhere watching this case.
I agree with the female FWC officer in the body cam footage; is this the first time these guys have done this; illegally killed a sentient creature with a powerdrill? Or just the first time they've been caught?
I don't think their lives should be ruined over this. I believe in second chances. But I sure as hell don't think they should EVER be allowed to obtain any kind of hunting license again in the state of Flordia. And the powerdrill thing? In my opinion that warrants a psyche evaluation and counseling. To be continued. Monday. (Jen)
🐊 An "uncommon" day in court for the three men charged in the death of Allie the Alligator.
The men accused of illegally trapping “Allie the Alligator,” a Milton area retention pond alligator, and killing her with a power drill appeared before Santa Rosa County Judge Robert Hilliard Friday morning for final plea day, but there was nothing final about it.
Former Navy SEAL and SNAP trapper Kevin Lacz and his agent trappers, Jason Griffin and Richard Reder, will be back in court Monday morning.
Instead of reaching a conclusion during the “unusual” pre-trial conference that the defendants requested, the case is still up in the air.
The men must now decide if they want to go to trial, together or separately, or work out a deal with the state. So far, those efforts have gone nowhere, the judge said during a pre-trial conference requested by the defendants' attorney, Greg Whibbs.
Hilliard made a point of noting just how unusual this pre-trial conference was. More than once.
Whibbs explained that he wanted the opportunity to tell the judge more about his clients, including their backgrounds and lack of criminal histories, and to get some indication of how Hilliard might sentence them if they pleaded guilty directly to the court rather than reaching an agreement with prosecutors.
But Hilliard wasn't inclined to play that game.
"I'm not allowed to negotiate a sentence," the judge told him, explaining that plea negotiations are between the defense and the State Attorney's Office.
Whibbs then asked to introduce his clients individually and let them briefly explain their backgrounds, starting with Lacz.
The judge stopped him before he got started.
"We need to keep this relevant to the crime charged," Hilliard said, acknowledging that criminal history could be relevant but cautioning against introducing anything "extraneous."
The judge also acknowledged the “notoriety” surrounding the case, saying he had made a conscious effort to avoid exposure to the publicity.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged the Santa Rosa County men with a second-degree misdemeanor “conservation” charge for capturing the alligator, hauling it back alive to Lacz’s house, then dispatching it with a power drill to the head.
They’ve been fighting the charges because Whibbs said the alligator was deemed a nuisance by the state in 2024.
But the nuisance complaint, which is only good for 45 days, had long since expired by the time the men captured and killed the alligator in March 2026.
No one else had complained about the alligator, nicknamed “Allie” by neighbors, but Lacz told FWC he “suspected” someone would and they killed her as a “capture of opportunity.”
According to FWC, the officers acknowledged the men illegally killed the alligator but believed they had made a “mistake” and due to Lacz’s status at the time as a SNAP trapper (the state has since removed him as a trapper) they believed the misdemeanor charge more adequately fit the crime.
The case has sparked some outrage in the community over how the men killed the alligator and FWC’s decision to charge them with a misdemeanor instead of a felony.
In fact, FWC just arrested a 60-year-old Palm Beach businessman on multiple felonies after wildlife officers discovered a dead alligator with a hammer protruding from its forehead at his West Palm Beach property.
They say Desmond Keogh admitted to shooting the reptile once and striking it multiple times with a hammer, leading to charges of illegally killing an alligator, discharging a fi***rm in public, and displaying a weapon during a felony
Some feel FWC cut Lacz and his friends some slack because Lacz served as a U.S. Navy SEAL and was featured in the movie “American Sniper.”
At the pre-trial conference, Whibbs continued pressing the judge for some indication of what his clients could expect if they entered pleas, suggesting the judge might consider withholding adjudication and ordering court costs.
But Hilliard wasn't offering any predictions.
"I don't really telegraph what I'll do," he said.
The judge also remarked that in more than two decades on the bench, he had never conducted a pretrial conference like this one.
"This is proceeding in an uncommon fashion," Hilliard said.
The judge acknowledged the defense and prosecution have already been trying to negotiate a plea agreement, but so far, those efforts have been unsuccessful.
"I'm not a negotiator like the state can," Hilliard told Whibbs. "Now, the state can negotiate all they want, and evidently no deal has been reached here."
Whibbs agreed that cases involving these kinds of misdemeanor wildlife violations typically end in agreements with prosecutors rather than trials or defendants pleading directly to a judge.
But this case hasn't followed a typical path.
After Hilliard made it clear he wasn't going to offer any indication of a possible sentence, Whibbs decided there was no need to have his clients speak.
So what happens next?
State prosecutor Trey Myers told the judge the state wasn't prepared to go to trial Monday because subpoenas had not been issued while today's conference was pending.
He suggested bringing the men back Monday to see whether ongoing plea negotiations produce an agreement.
Hilliard agreed.
But the judge also raised another question that has yet to be answered: If the men decide to fight the charges, will there be one trial or three?
"Would we be having one trial or three trials?" Hilliard asked, telling the attorneys they didn't have to answer immediately.
It's an interesting question given the circumstances of this case.
Lacz was the licensed nuisance alligator trapper under Florida's Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP), while Reder and Griffin were acting as his agent trappers.
They all have the same attorney but that could change if they decide to plead separately or go to trial separately.
Maybe we’ll find out, when they’re expected back in court Monday, Oct. 26, at 8:30 a.m.
Hilliard made clear he'd like to see the matter resolved.
"It's achieved kind of uncommon status," the judge remarked near the end of the hearing.
Indeed it has.
I'll be following what happens Monday.
