Ohio deer-trafficking scheme nets record $1.6 million fine

Recently, the Columbus Dispatch published an article noting that the largest fine and restitution for a wildlife crime in U.S. history, $1.6 million, has been ordered in an Ohio case involving trafficking in whitetail deer.

From the article:

Benjamin N. Chason, 61, of Climax, Ga., was sentenced in U.S. District Court for violations of the Lacey Act, a 115-year-old federal wildlife-protection law.

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Chason and co-defendant Donald W. Wainwright Sr. of Logan County trafficked in live white-tail deer for hunts, court documents show. Wainwright owned hunting preserves in Logan County and in Florida called Valley View Whitetails.

Wainwright “illegally shipped deer to Florida from Ohio and attempted to ship deer to Georgia from Ohio. The herds involved with these shipments were not certified to be free from chronic wasting disease, tuberculosis and brucellosis. Federal law requires interstate shipments of deer to be certified disease-free; because the deer in the present case were not certified as disease-free, herds (both captive and wild) in Florida were potentially exposed to these diseases,” court records show.

According to the article, officials caught on to the scheme when a shipment of deer in a truck was stopped on I-71 heading south out of Ohio.

Scott Zody, Division of Wildlife chief for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is quoted as saying “Illegal sale and transport of white-tailed deer are serious crimes, and I appreciate the teamwork and cooperation between all of the agencies involved to help obtain these convictions.”

According to the article, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will receive $600,000 from the fine. In addition, $200,000 will go to the Federal Endangered Species and Wildlife Diversity Fund, $400,000 to Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, and $100,000 to the state’s “Turn in a Poacher” program.

The Dispatch reports that Chason was sentenced to three years of probation and four months of home confinement, while Wainwright Sr. was sentenced to 21 months in prison, plus a $125,000 fine and 200 hours of community service in parks.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.

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