Ngapuhi elder Sonny Tau has pleaded guilty to a charge of hunting a protected bird after he earlier admitted possession of five dead kereru.
Tau was today convicted in the Auckland District Court on both charges.
A new charge of conspiring to perverting the course of justice was also brought by police. The 61-year-old appeared in court today supported by family but did not enter a plea in relation to this charge.
Tau was found with a number of kereru, or native wood pigeon, at Invercargill Airport in June this year when he was flying back to Northland.
The Department of Conservation charged him with killing or hunting a protected species and another of unlawfully being in possession of protected wildlife.
Tau did not speak during his short appearance this afternoon. Instead his lawyer entered a plea on his behalf.
"The possession charge already has a plea of guilty entered," he told the judge. "And I can confirm a guilty plea to the hunting charge also."
All the charges were moved from the Invercargill District Court to Auckland last week.
Since the incident, Tau has stood aside from his position of chairman of Tuhoronuku, the body recognised as having mandate to negotiate the Ngapuhi Treaty Settlement.
Kereru have been protected since 1921. The maximum penalty for taking a protected species is a fine of up to $100,000 or two years in prison.
The conspiring to pervert the course of justice charge was laid in Invercargill last week, but today was Tau's first appearance in relation to the count.
Under the Crimes Act, anyone found guilty of conspiring to obstruct, prevent, pervert or defeat the course of justice may be imprisoned for up to seven years.
Tau will be back in court in January.
