PARIS – On his first day out hunting bear with Lawrence Perry, undercover Game Warden William Livezey got his money’s worth.

Testifying Tuesday in Oxford County Superior Court, Livezey told how he posed as an out-of-state hunter from Pennsylvania. He gave Perry, 56, a longtime registered Maine guide, $1,000 cash for a week’s worth of bear hunting in the cornfields and woods around Perry’s home in Fryeburg.

Livezey said he got his bear that day, Sept. 15, 2003. But it was in the weeks and months that followed that the real payoff occurred: a 31-count indictment against Perry, alleging crimes including night hunting, driving deer, hunting bear with more than four dogs, keeping a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and hunting deer and other wild animals during the closed season.

“Unlike domestic animals, Maine wildlife do have an owner, and the owner is the state of Maine,” said Assistant District Attorney Joseph O’Connor in opening remarks to the 12-member jury.

O’Connor said many Maine guides obtain their licenses as a point of pride. But some charge to take clients on hunts, and those who do are “supposed to make sure his clients obey the game laws, not assist in breaking the law.”

Livezey testified that over time, as he stayed at Perry’s house and gained his trust, Perry would commit hunting violations in his presence. One time Perry saw a fox in a corn field, during closed season for hunting fox, and jumped out of his truck to shoot at it, Livezey said.

On several occasions as Perry’s dogs closed in on a bear, Livesey said Perry would release a fifth, or a sixth dog. Livezey said Perry told him as they were driving around tracking deer or bear to always keep his gun loaded to get off a quick shot. Perry routinely kept his gun loaded and would shoot out the window at wild animals, Livezey said.

One night while Livezey was sleeping on Perry’s couch, Perry woke him in the middle of the night to go deer hunting, Livezey said. On several occasions Perry organized hunting parties for driving deer that included Livezey, he said.

Perry’s attorney, William Maselli, said during opening remarks that Livezey’s description of Perry was “barely recognizable” to the real man, a native Mainer who was a sports star at Fryeburg Academy and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.

“No one in this state knows and understands and cherishes wildlife more than Lawrence Perry,” Maselli said. After leaving the military, Perry started a construction business which is now owned by his brother Carl Perry and son Jeff Perry, Maselli said.

Raising his son, Travis, now serving in Iraq, and three daughters, Perry’s passion was local sports and his hunting dogs, Maselli said.

“He’s not a saint. He lived hard and drank hard, but he’s been sober since 1991,” Maselli said. “He’s bred, raised and trained some of the finest dogs in the United States.”

Maselli said that much of Livezey’s story “has been grossly exaggerated or fabricated. (Livezey) hung out with them, drank with them, slept with them, did everything he could to get as many charges as possible” against Perry and “as many other people as possible.”

Game Warden investigator Albert St. Saviour testified that the Maine Warden Service has specific guidelines on when it is proper to go undercover to conduct an investigation. He said the state gives high priority to cases involving registered Maine guides, but still must receive a complaint, which it did in this case.

Perry is expected to take the stand Wednesday morning. Closing arguments are expected to be heard by Thursday.