Per the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, a Calloway County judge recently fined four Kentucky men and a New Jersey man almost $70,000 — following the acceptance of guilty pleas related to 135 charges of illegally guiding hunters, and the illegal use of bait.
Conservation officers with the organization reportedly uncovered the violations during an investigation of illegal guiding in west Kentucky.
Carl Doron, of Murray, and four of his employees with Snipe Creek Outfitters their pleas in Calloway County District Court December 13.
Assistant Calloway County Attorney Casey Naber noted it was the county’s largest wildlife violation case “in recent memory” — with one defendant receiving around 100 charges, in what should be a deterrent to others.
Doron pleaded guilty to 97 charges relating to guiding without a license, and two charges of baiting a deer in a chronic wasting disease surveillance zone. Calloway County is one of five in west Kentucky in this surveillance zone.
Tyler Mitchell, 23, of Carlisle, pleaded guilty to six counts of guiding without a license.
Jeffrey Ort, 54, of Blairstown, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of non-resident guiding without a license.
Jerry Smith, 72, of Murray, pleaded guilty to nine counts of guiding without a license.
John Sullivan, 51, of Almo, pleaded guilty to four counts of guiding without a license.
Doron received the bulk of the fine at $50,500 with a 360-day jail sentence. He will not be imposed if he meets conditional discharge requirements over the next 24 months.
Calloway District Judge Randy Hutchens ordered Doron could not incur additional hunting violations, as part of his conditional release. The court will recommend a six-year suspension of any guide licensing privileges if Doron chooses to commit any violations.
Hutchens also ordered Doron to pay $5,750 in restitution to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife for costs incurred during the investigation.
Ort was fined $8,500 and received a 360-day sentence suspended on conditional discharge. Mitchell was fined $3,000; Smith and Sullivan were fined $4,500 and $2,000 respectively.
