Poachers busted

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Undercover probe prompted wildlife charges
Wayne County's wildlife officer said an undercover wildlife officer bought 192 pounds of deer meat from Joe Cunningham of Dogwood Trail.

Cunningham was charged Friday with six game law violations. Wildlife officers seized 138 pounds of deer meat they found at his home. They seized all of his meat- grinding and sausage-making equipment, hiss 2004 Dodge pickup truck and two guns that were inside the truck.

Wayne County Wildlife Officer Joey Deal said he had received an anonymous call about Cunningham selling deer meat, and reports had also come from headquarters in Raleigh. An undercover wildlife officer came to the county and bought 50 pounds of link-style deer sausage, Deal said. The officer had not brought any deer meat with him. Cunningham had told the News-Argus on Saturday that he was just doing a fellow a favor by making sausage for him.

Deal said Cunningham told the officer he had plenty of deer meat to sell, and he didn't need for him to bring him any.

"They met down the road from his house," said Deal. "About six days later, we set up another buy."

The second time was Friday afternoon. Deal said the officer bought 142 pounds of sausage for $2.50 a pound.

Several wildlife officers from the patrol area, which includes Wayne, Johnston and Wake counties, then converged on Cunningham just inside Walnut Creek. He consented to a search, although the officers had a warrant.

"We were prepared," Deal said. "This was the biggest meat sale I've been involved in."

Cunningham was charged with possessing, transporting and selling white tail deer which had been processed for the purpose of sale. He was also charged with three license violations including failure to validate a white tail deer report card. Deal said he had used someone else's license number on the registration for cutting up deer. Cunningham was placed under $3,000 bond and scheduled for a first appearance on Feb. 8.

Deal said the wildlife officers are still investigating three people who might have been supplying meat to the operation.

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Kansas poachers busted too...

BY MICHAEL PEARCE

The Wichita Eagle


EL DORADO - A 19-year-old Augusta man was fined $2,000 in Butler County District Court on Friday for 12 wildlife-related crimes.

Jeremiah Pittman was also placed on two years supervised probation, had all hunting privileges taken away for seven years and can't hunt deer for at least 10 years.

Pittman's father, Steven Pittman, was fined $8,650 on Dec. 21 and ordered to spend 60 days in jail for a number of poaching charges.

A December 2003 search of the Pittman home in Augusta by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks law-enforcement officers, found parts of 60 deer and 114 wild turkeys.

Jeremiah Pittman was initially charged with one felony and 35 misdemeanors. He was a minor at the time of the crimes.

On Friday, Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield asked Judge Mike Ward to fine Jeremiah Pittman $12,500.

She also lowered the prosecution's initial request for 500 hours of community service to 40 hours so Pittman could focus on classes at Butler Community College and earn enough money to pay his fines.

Ward said he lowered the fine because of Pittman's age, his apparent remorse for the poaching crimes and ongoing education.

Part of Pittman's probation includes maintaining a B average in college. He can't associate with anyone while they're hunting and is required to write a letter of apology to the sportsmen of Kansas. He also must retake the hunter education course if he wishes to hunt in the future.