Category: Poachers

Michigan: Three Relatives Sentenced in Otsego County for Elk Poaching

Three northern Michigan men related to each other were sentenced Thursday in Otsego County District Court in Gaylord for a 2019 elk-poaching incident, in which three elk cows were killed.

Christian White, 29, of Gaylord, Harry White, 70, and Ronald White, 56, both of West Branch, each pleaded guilty to one count of illegally taking an elk.

Each man lost his hunting privileges for 15 years, forfeited his weapon and was ordered to serve a six-month probation term. In addition, each must pay $5,000 in restitution for the elk and a total of $625 in fines and court costs.

“I am proud of our team’s investigative efforts, which ultimately brought these three men to justice,” said Sgt. Mark DePew, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer who supervised the investigation. “Our officers demonstrated teamwork and patience to quickly solve one of the worst – if not the worst – elk poaching case northern Michigan has ever seen.”

Conservation officers began investigating the three men more than a year ago, after receiving anonymous tips that eventually connected the suspects, and then confirmed they had been at the location where the three elk cows were found dead. That location was situated 50 yards north of Hardwood Lake Road, near Bobcat Trail, east of Vanderbilt in Otsego County.

During the investigation, the Whites confessed to conservation officers that they poached the three elk. The three men were arraigned in January.

This was the third elk poaching case to occur within a 30-day period in late 2019. DNR conservation officers continue to actively investigate the two preceding elk poaching crimes, a bull elk killed in Otsego County in November 2019, and a second elk killed in Montmorency County a week later. Read more

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Three Michigan Men Fined Nearly $20,000 for Poaching Waterfowl

Three Macomb County men fined nearly $20,000 for poaching waterfowl

Three men from Harrison Township, Michigan, were arraigned and sentenced yesterday in the 42nd District Court in New Baltimore on charges related to illegally hunting and baiting waterfowl in December.

Richard Schaller, 52, Robert Kucinski, 49, and Timothy Morris, 58, pleaded guilty to a total of 13 misdemeanor charges, including:

  • Taking, possessing an over-limit of Canada geese.
  • Taking, possessing an over-limit of mallards.
  • Taking, possessing an over-limit of hen mallards.
  • Taking, hunting waterfowl over a baited area.

Additionally, Schaller was charged with one count of placing bait for the purpose of taking waterfowl.

On Dec. 6, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Report All Poaching hotline received a tip about a potential over-limit of taken waterfowl near a pond off Chesterfield Road in Chesterfield Township, Macomb County. Read more

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Boone and Crockett Club Welcomes Research and Media Partnership with International Wildlife Crimestoppers

MISSOULA, Mont. – International Wildlife Crimestoppers, Inc. (IWC) has joined the Boone and Crockett Club as a research and media partner in their coordinated efforts against poaching. Through the strategic partnership, the Club is supporting conservation law enforcement and will help IWC promote and continue providing specialized law enforcement equipment to officers. In addition, one key part of this outreach includes IWC’s Wall of Shame trailers, traveling exhibits that educate both adults and our nation’s youth about the differences between poaching and legal, ethical hunting. As part of the partnership, IWC will also be actively engaged in the Club’s Poach & Pay initiative supporting the development of communications materials and connection to conservation officers.

“For over one hundred years, conservation of our nation’s resources has come through the dedication of ethical hunters abiding by the regulations put in place to maintain sustainable wildlife resources. Conservation officers have been essential to that model by working to identify and stop poachers—but their job is incredibly hard. The Boone and Crockett Club is excited for this collaboration with International Wildlife Crimestoppers as the Poach & Pay project develops. Strategic partnerships like this one will help to increase successful prosecution of poachers, and make sure the penalties fit the crimes with fines and restitutions that support state agency wildlife conservation efforts,” commented Club President James F. Arnold.

Since it was founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club has focused on conserving wildlife using scientific management principles, while also promoting the highest ethical standards of Fair Chase® and sportsmanship in hunting. The organization has played a critical role in enacting many of the conservation laws that now serve as the foundation for wildlife management in this country. Protecting wildlife resources in North America is an ongoing mission for conservation law enforcement officers and International Wildlife Crimestoppers, Inc. IWC members consist of conservation law enforcement agencies and conservation minded organizations with the primary responsibility to enforce laws and regulations regarding the protection of fish, wildlife, and habitat within their state or province and promote sustainable conservation models for the future. Currently, the association is made up of U.S. states and Canadian provinces with a diverse executive board consisting of conservation law enforcement officers from across the country. Read more

Poachers

Michigan: Three Northern Michigan Men Arraigned in Elk Poaching Case

Three relatives responsible for what Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers are referring to as a historic elk poaching case were arraigned today in the Otsego County 87A District Court.

Christian White, 29, of Gaylord, and Harry White, 70, and Ronald White, 56, both of West Branch, pleaded not guilty to a total of eight wildlife crimes after admitting to poaching three cow elk in Pigeon River Country in December 2019.

  • Christian White was arraigned on four charges: hunting deer without a license, taking an over-limit of elk, failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve the elk and taking elk in the wrong hunting unit.
  • Harry White was arraigned on three charges: taking an over-limit of elk, failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve elk and taking elk in the wrong hunting unit.
  • Ronald White faces one charge: taking an over-limit of elk.

Read more

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Boone and Crockett Club Launches Poach & Pay Research

MISSOULA, Mont.  – During the annual meeting of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), the Boone and Crockett Club announced its plans to lead a long-term Poach & Pay anti-poaching campaign. Through Poach & Pay, the Club will work with state wildlife agencies, legislators, and the judicial system to improve the detection and conviction of poachers and to ensure that the fines being assessed for this illegal killing are in line with the value our society places on wildlife. Poach & Pay, which received initial financial support through the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, will include detailed research, a public outreach campaign to actively engage the sportsmen’s community against poaching, and the development of template legislation that could be carried in state houses to help state agencies fight wildlife crime. The Club also announced that it is actively seeking additional sponsorship from the outdoor industry and other organizations to help fund Poach & Pay research and outreach in the coming years.

“Poaching goes against all that we hold sacred as law-abiding sportsmen and women and undermines the entire foundation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. However, the media often uses the terms hunting and poaching interchangeably, dragging all hunters down with the crimes of poachers,” noted Boone and Crockett Club president, Timothy C. Brady. “In addition, with little consistency among states in terms of fines and restitution, poachers often get away with little penalty. This emboldens them and other poachers to steal our public trust resources – and potentially the future of hunting.” Read more

Poachers

Coast Guard Sets Record for Interdictions of Mexican Lanchas Fishing Illegally in U.S. Waters

A launch crew is interdicted by Coast Guard law enforcement crews for engaging in illegal fishing in federal waters off the coast of southern Texas. (U.S. Coast Guard file photo)

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard law enforcement crews interdicted a record-setting number of lanchas throughout the Gulf of Mexico for fiscal year 2020.

Since October 2019, Coast Guard assets and personnel detected a total of 326 lanchas and interdicted 136.

Since the first recorded lancha interdiction in the late 1980s, the Coast Guard has seen a significant uptick in the detection of the vessels, particularly in the past two years, recording 74 lancha interdictions in the previous fiscal year.

The Coast Guard utilizes a layered approach for operations through aircraft, small boats, and cutters, as well as improved technology on those assets, resulting in the drastic increase in lancha interdictions.

“This past year, we applied an unprecedented level of effort along the Maritime Boundary Line towards countering this threat to our natural resources, and the result speaks for itself,” said Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Prado, Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi enforcement chief. “However, we will not be content until we see an end to this affront on our maritime sovereignty. We will continue to leverage all available technology and partnerships to increase our effectiveness. The boating public can play a key role in assisting the Coast Guard. Successful interdictions are oftentimes the result of timely reports from the maritime community. We encourage all boaters to continue to report all suspected illegal fishing.” Read more

Fishing, Poachers

Two Cheboygan County men arrested for poaching a cow elk

Acting on an anonymous tip, Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers conducted a lengthy investigation which has led to the recent arrests of two Cheboygan County men for the poaching of a cow elk.

Jakob Edward Gagnon, 21, and Logan Nathan-Edward Turbin, 22, both of Wolverine, have appeared in Cheboygan County District Court in Cheboygan – Gagnon for arraignment, Turbin for plea and sentencing.

The investigation began in September 2018 with a tip called in to the DNR’s Report All Poaching Hotline (800-292-7800). An elk had been shot in the Pigeon River Country that month.

DNR conservation officers began following up on the tip and developed several suspects. A search warrant was obtained for the residence of one of the suspects. The search took place in October 2018, when evidence supporting the elk poaching was seized, in addition to illegal narcotics.

Conservation officers said evidence shows that Gagnon shot the elk and brought it back to his residence, where he then processed it. Turbin, knowing the elk was poached, assisted him in processing the elk, taking several bags of illegal elk meat for himself. Read more

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Federal Court Sentences Louisiana Man for Killing Whooping Cranes

LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA – A Rayne resident was sentenced July 30 for a Whooping Crane crime he committed four years ago.

Kaenon Constantin was sentenced at the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette by Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna.

Constantin received five years’ unsupervised probation. During this time, he must complete 360 hours of community service with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). Constantin’s hunting privileges were revoked until he can complete his community service. He also was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution to LDWF.

Constantin pled not guilty on Jan. 21 to a misdemeanor violation of the Lacey Act for transporting an endangered species as defined under the Endangered Species Act and agreed to a trial before a magistrate judge. In June, Constantin agreed to change his plea to guilty at the hearing today.

He and a juvenile accomplice shot two Whooping Cranes in May 2016 in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. Upon discovering color bands and transmitters on the one individual whose carcass they were able to retrieve, Whooping Crane L5-15, Constantin and his accomplice used a kitchen knife to separate the legs from the bird’s body and threw the transmitter in a crawfish pond in attempt to hide the evidence of their crime, in violation of the Lacey Act, a federal law that bans trafficking in illegal wildlife.

During sentencing, Judge Hanna said, “I think these birds are basically priceless,” but asked that Constantin pay for one of the two birds he shot. Judge Hanna repeatedly said he was upset at the loss of the birds, and the fact that Constantin attempted to cover up the shooting and involved his juvenile nephew in his crime made the situation much worse. The judge also expressed disbelief that anyone could shoot a Whooping Crane without knowing that it was something they weren’t supposed to shoot. Judge Hanna said he would have given Constantin jail time under normal circumstances, but that prisons in Louisiana are already overcrowded and dangerous due to the pandemic. Read more

Poachers, Wildlife

BHA Rewards Hunter who Reported Illegal Wilderness Helicopter

MISSOULA, Mont. – Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has issued a reward to John Morris, the Montana horseman who recently captured images of a pilot using a private helicopter to access a fishing hole in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Morris’s photos resulted in the pilot’s conviction, qualifying him for a monetary award via BHA’s Reward Fund.

The million-acre Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana is the flagship of the National Wilderness System. Under the federal Wilderness Act, motorized and wheeled vehicles, including motorbikes, ATVs, snowmobiles are prohibited, and aircraft are limited to specific airstrips. Aircraft are required to stay 2000 feet above the ground when flying over wilderness areas. That overflight rule also applies to Wild & Scenic Rivers, which includes the South Fork of the Flathead.

Morris was hunting black bear by horseback in the upper South Fork of the Flathead Valley in the Bob when he saw a low-flying helicopter land on a gravel bar and two individuals fishing.

“My family has enjoyed the solitude of the Bob for three generations now,” said Morris, of Kalispell. “Witnessing a helicopter illegally landed on the South Fork completely degraded my experience. In my mind, for me, that place will never be the same.” Read more

Poachers

Suspected Poacher Stopped in Tennessee with Illegal Ohio Walleyes

Suspected Poacher Stopped in Tennessee with Illegal Ohio Walleyes

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Wildlife officials in Ohio and Tennessee combined in early June to apprehend a suspected poacher who reportedly took an over limit of walleye on Lake Erie, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The investigation is ongoing with multiple state agencies involved in the case; charges have yet to be filed.

Division of Wildlife officers, assigned to the Lake Erie Unit, investigated an anonymous report to the Turn In a Poacher hotline about two men, from Tennessee and Florida, who allegedly caught and kept more than their daily limit of walleye for several days during their stay in Ohio. The daily bag limit on Ohio’s portion of Lake Erie is six walleye with a 15-inch limit.

After witnessing the men engage in suspected over the limit activity, Ohio officers planned to contact the men on June 10, but determined that the man from Tennessee had left for home earlier in the day. With knowledge of the Tennessee man’s identity, Tennessee officers met the man upon his arrival at his home. After interviewing the suspect and subsequent inspection of the fish, they reportedly seized 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets.

On behalf of Ohio wildlife investigators, the Tennessee officers seized chunks of frozen walleye which were not kept in a manner that the fillets could be easily identified and counted. The fish will remain frozen and maintained as evidence in the case. Read more

Fishing, Poachers
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