117 Let’s Go For a Ride – with Bill Livezey

For twenty years, Bill Livezey led a double life rubbing shoulders with some of Maine’s worst wildlife offenders; the kinds of people who not only live by the poacher’s mantra “if it’s brown, it’s down,” but many who were dangerously unstable felons, alcoholics, and drug abusers - his success at putting bad guys out of business stemming largely from his early years as one of them. Since retiring in 2020 as the Maine Warden Service’s longest-tenured covert operative, he has co-written Let’s Go For a Ride, a captivating chronicle of both a life undercover, and a life transformed. Our Sponsors: Thin Green Line Podcast Don Noyes Chevrolet Sovereign Sportsman Solutions “A Cowboy in the Woods” Book Hunt of a Lifetime Maine's Operation Game Thief Wildlife Heritage Foundation of NH International Wildlife Crimestoppers Here’s what we discuss: ·        “Let’s go for a ride” - the universal bad guy code ·        Desire for wealth sent his father down a dark road ·        From successful businessman to meth dealer ·        Hired a hit man to kill his own brother ·        Ultimately died in a confrontation with police ·        Young Bill loved sports and the outdoors, but was using drugs regularly by 15 ·        Spiraling out of control: “I was broken.” ·        Positive influences and an invitation from a teammate changed everything ·        Unity college and riding with the game warden ·        An extra-long warden service polygraph ·        Applying as many times as it takes ·        The young game warden who knew all the tricks ·        Experience as a juvenile lent itself to undercover work ·        Befriending, then arresting poachers was a psychological struggle ·        “Pull over! I’m an undercover game warden!” ·        Relationships have to feel real; some were easy, some not so much ·        Undercover work was difficult to step away from ·        Some cases were especially taxing ·        The fear of being discovered ·        The book brings the reader into each case Credits Hosts: Wayne Saunders and John Nores Producer: Jay Ammann Art & Design: Ashley Hannett Research / Content Coordinator: Stacey DesRoches   Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Google Waypoint Stitcher TuneIn Megaphone Find More Here: Website Warden’s Watch / TGL Store Patreon Facebook Facebook Fan Page Instagram Twitter YouTube RSS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices