Eight people with connections to an Ohio processing business face charges for poaching whitetail deer and stealing game meat from hunters.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced a huge list of charges, some at the felony level, against eight people accused of poaching and stealing meat from hunters.
The charges were given to employees and associates of an operation known as A&E Deer Processing. A total of 30 whitetail deer were poached, in addition to some 700 pounds of wild game meat that was stolen from hunters who paid to have their deer processed, and then sold for profit.
"Deer hunting is a deep-rooted tradition in Ohio, with generations having been taught the values of conservation, responsibility and discipline," Yost said. "This level of corruption violates those tenets, and protecting and preserving this part of our heritage are important to all sportsmen and -women."
The eight people charged face a combined 91 criminal counts, as follows:
- Aaron L. Jones, 32, of Thurman: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1), complicity to telecommunications fraud (F4), tampering with records (F3), theft (F5), receiving (disposing of) stolen property (F5), complicity to falsification (F5), money laundering (F3), illegal sale of wild animal parts (F5), possession of untagged deer parts (M3), possession of untagged deer meat (M3), over bag limit of antlered deer taken in a season (M3), providing false data when game checking a deer (two counts, M3), jacklighting (M3)
- Brittney E. Marcum, 31, of Thurman: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1), telecommunications fraud (F4), complicity to tampering with records (F3), complicity to theft (F5), complicity to receiving (disposing of) stolen property (F5), falsification (F5), complicity to money laundering (F3), complicity to illegal sale of wild animal parts (F5), possession of untagged deer parts (M3), possession of untagged deer meat (M3), providing false data when game checking a deer (M3)
- Randy L. Jones Jr., 64, of Thurman: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1), complicity to telecommunications fraud (F4), complicity to tampering with records (F3), complicity to theft (F5), complicity to receiving (disposing of) stolen property (F5), complicity to falsification (F5), complicity to money laundering (F3), complicity to illegal sale of wild animal parts (F5), possession of untagged deer parts (M3), possession of untagged deer meat (M3), possession of untagged turkey parts (M4), receiving stolen property - firearm (F4), over bag limits of antlered deer taken in a season (M3), attached antlerless game check confirmation number to antlered deer (M3), providing false data when game checking a deer (M3)
- Charlotte F. Jones, 63, of Thurman: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1), complicity to telecommunications fraud (F4), complicity to tampering with records (F3), complicity to theft (F5), complicity to receiving (disposing of) stolen property (F5), complicity to falsification (F5), complicity to money laundering (F3), complicity to illegal sale of wild animal parts (F5), possession of untagged deer parts (M3), possession of untagged deer meat (M3), possession of untagged turkey parts (M4), receiving stolen property - firearm (F4), providing false data when game checking a deer (M3)
- James E. Copley, 58, of Thurman: engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1), complicity to theft (F5), complicity to money laundering (F3), complicity to illegal sale of wild animal parts (F5), tampering with records (F3), theft (F5), possession of untagged deer parts (M3), possession of untagged deer meat (M3), unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance (F5), aiding a wildlife offender: accepting deer without a game check (M3), providing false data when game checking a deer (M3), hunting deer with an illegal hunting implement (M3), providing false data when game checking a deer (three counts, M3), hunting deer with an illegal hunting implement (M3)
- Justin M. Wells, 36, of Thurman: theft (F5), failure to game check a deer (five counts, M3), over bag limit of deer taken in a season (M3), possession of untagged deer parts (M3), possession of untagged turkey parts (M4), jacklighting (M3)
- William C. Gilbert, 27, of Thurman: tampering with records (F3), grand theft (F4), possession of untagged deer parts (M3), possession of untagged deer meat (M3), jacklighting (M3), hunting deer with an illegal hunting implement (two counts, M3), failure to game check a deer (M3), jacklighting (M3), failure to game check a deer (M3)
- Justin F. Butterfield, 23, of Brice: theft (F5), failure to game check a deer (M3)
The charges came after a joint investigation between the Ohio Attorney General's office and the Ohio Department of Nature Resources, and the eight people were indicted by a Gallia County grand jury.
NEXT: POACHERS BUSTED WITH 151 SQUIRRELS OVER THE LIMIT BY MISSOURI OFFICIALS
