Adult and Juvenile Convicted After Killing Over 50 Deer, Two Bears and an Owl

Two Virginia residents have been charged for their role in a heinous poaching case that has been several months in the making. With reports of multiple deer found killed, Virginia Conservation Police kicked off their investigation which covered two large counties in southern Virginia. 

“Scott and Lee counties combine for over 970 square miles,” said Conservation Police Officer (CPO) Derrik Rickels. “During this time, [the CPO position in] Lee County was vacant. We had to coordinate with other officers in the district to determine the best areas of the counties to spend our time and effort to work most efficiently. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to their spotlighting route. There were several times that we had four or five officers working certain areas to catch the suspects in the act.”

By kicking up nighttime patrols and including the use of K9s, surveillance video and citizen assistance, after a few months worth of work, officers were finally able to catch up to the spotlighting antics of the accused. 

“We were assisted by deputies and investigators with the Scott County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO),” said CPO Rickels. “On the night they were caught, an off-duty SCSO investigator witnessed subjects shining a spotlight from the window of the vehicle.”

After being detained, it didn’t take officers long to force a confession out of the two suspects who were later found to have used a suppressed rifle to kill upwards of 55 deer at night with a spotlight. In addition to catching the pair in the act, the review of the suspects cell phones gave officers all they needed to hit these two with a plethora of misdemeanor charges.

“Working this large of a case, over several months, and then finally seeing all of the hard work come together to a successful prosecution was very rewarding,” said CPO Rickels. “Not only did we protect the wildlife from these serial violators, but also members of our community saw that we take this seriously and will work every lead we get.”

In total, one adult and one juvenile were charged with 238 violations for the illegal killing of approximately 30 deer, and were able to include the illegal killing two bears, and one owl to their rap sheet. 

The charges were filed as detailed below:

Subject #1:

• Conviction of 7 class 1 misdemeanors, 91 charges taken under advisement for 12 months

• $3,800 restitution to landowners

• $10,255 replacement costs

• $693 court costs

• 5-year hunting revocation

• Forfeiture of the rifle and suppressor

• 12 months jail suspended

• 12 months supervised probation

• 6 years unsupervised probation

• Mental health assessment ordered by the court

Subject #2 (juvenile):

• Conviction of 14 class 2 misdemeanors, remainder taken under advisement

• $7,000 replacement costs

• 5-year hunting revocation

• 28 months of jail suspended

• 24 months of adult supervised probation

• Mental health assessment ordered by the court