Eight Face Charges for Allegedly Stealing Deer Meat, Illegally Poaching Ohio White-tailed Deer

Direct from Ohio Attorney General:

 In the wake of a joint investigation by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, eight people have been indicted by a Gallia County grand jury on (allegedly) multiple felony charges of poaching white-tailed deer and stealing meat from hunters.

Investigators (allegedly) found that a deer-meat processing operation known as A&E Deer Processing and associates poached 30 Ohio white-tailed deer and skimmed more than 700 pounds of meat from deer that hunters paid to have processed by the business. A&E Deer Processing then sold the stolen meat for a 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 (alleged) corruption violates those tenets, and protecting and preserving this part of our heritage are important to all sportsmen and -women.”

Each of the past two years, more than 180,000 white-tailed deer were harvested in Ohio, according to ODNR.

Hunting – of deer and other game – is an economic boon for the state. A recent Ohio State University study found that roughly 9 million hunting trips are taken in Ohio every year, with hunters spending $800 million here annually.

AG Yost lauded the investigative efforts of ODNR and the work of Environmental Enforcement Section of his office that led to the indictments. 

The eight people charged face a (alleged) combined 91 criminal counts:

• 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)

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech

UPDATED 10/20/21 Ohio's to-date deer kill continues to slide; overall dropping 16.8% when compared to three-year average

 

Since Ohio’s archery deer-hunting season began September 25th, the unseasonably warm weather is largely being assigned the blame for a freezing of the initial deer kill.

For the period up through October 17th, the statewide total archery-associated deer kill was down 16.8 percent verses the three-year average. Just for antlered deer the decline figure was 10.3 percent, and for antlerless animals that percentage had fallen by 20.1 percent, says Clint McCoy, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s deer management biologist.

In all, through October 17, Ohio’s archery deer hunters have killed 17,787 animals compared to the three-year average of 21,381 animals.

Just how slow the start has been can be seen in the county-by-county to-date numbers. Of Ohio’s 88 counties through October 17^th, only four – Harrison, Jefferson, Adams, and Guernsey – showed increases in their respective to-date deer kill when compared to the three-year average.

Some counties have witnessed substantial to-date declines when compared to their respective three-year averages, too. Among the examples are Madison which was off 38.1 percent, Lucas was down 38.8 percent, Monroe was down 41.9 percent, and Clinton was down a whopping 48.8 percent.

However, not all is dim news. Nine Ohio counties have thus far experienced increases in their to-date antlered (buck) deer kill. Among them are Coshocton, up 10.5 percent; Noble, up 12.6 percent; Perry, up 13 percent; Guernsey up 14.7 percent; Muskingum, up 16.1 percent; Jefferson, up 16.9 percent; Adams, up 18.4 percent; Harrison, up 19 percent; and Summit, up 19.6 percent. Again, these numbers are for antlered deer only.

It is estimated that Ohio’s deer herd consists of around 600,000 to 800,000 animals. And projections are that between 185,000 and 1995,000 deer will be killed by all means when the last of Ohio’s deer seasons concludes February 6^th.

“Opening weekend the deer harvest was pretty solid with some nice weather to help but since then it’s been hot and that had to be a significant factor,” McCoy said.

The caveat being, says McCoy also, that such sticky-buggy-uncomfortable weather “likely has affected hunters more than it has the deer.”

“No one wants to walk to their blind or tree stand all sweaty and then try and take care of any animal that’s been shot and which might spoil without prompt attention,” McCoy said.

Still, says McCoy, the deer still have to eat though that dining is probably more oriented toward occurring after dark than during the legal hunting time of one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.

McCoy says another plausible factor to the tranquil start of the statewide archery deer-hunting season is the expansion in the allowable use of antlerless deer tags. These tags are now legal tender in every county (minus nearly all public lands) up through November 28th.

Consequently, those archery deer hunters who are going out now may be focusing more of their attention on aiming to bag an antlered animal, McCoy speculates.

“In my mind these hunters may not be so willing to take a doe in the warm weather knowing they’ll have more opportunity to hunt an antlerless deer later on when it’s not so hot to track a deer and drag it out of the woods,” McCoy said.

Even so, says McCoy, a quick weather change to cooler temperatures and all could translate into a fast recovery in the deer kill.

“It’s just not been good deer-hunting weather,” McCoy said.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com