Family-Outdoors

Benjamin N. Chason, 61, of Climax, Georgia pleaded guilty and was sentenced in U.S. District Court for three charges related to violating the Lacey Act. Chason was ordered to pay $1.6 million in fines and restitution, the largest sum of money ordered of an individual to pay for a wildlife crime in the United States. Of the $1.6 million, $600,000 is to be paid into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Habitat Fund $200,000 to the Federal Endangered Species and Wildlife Diversity Fund, $400,000 to Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks and $100,000 to the Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife Turn in a Poacher (TIP) program. Carter Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Gregory Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, Chief Scott Zody, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Ge...

A Wisconsin game farm owner is now a felon due to his illegal commercialization of snow Long-eared owl. Photo courtesy of Steve Gifford. geese. United States Attorney James L. Santelle, announced that on October 20, 2014, Todd David Doughty, age 50, owner of the “Thunderbird Game Farm” in Chilton, Wisconsin, was sentenced to five years probation, ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, and had his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for five years by Chief United States District Court Judge William C. Griesbach. According to the plea agreement and other documents filed with the court, Doughty illegally engaged in the sale of sausage containing snow goose, a migratory bird. While sentencing the defendant, Chief Judge Griesbach noted a litany of past wildlife offenses which, “spoke to the defendant’s character” and his “disregard for wildlife laws” which necessitated the lengthy revocation of hunting privileges. As a convicted felon, Doughty will never again legally possess a ...