Texans Rack Up Big
Bucks for Deer Poaching
By SGW Brady May

"Everything's big in Texas" as they say, but Oklahoma Game Wardens Brady May and Tony Clark uncovered the biggest poaching case of their careers when they recently apprehended two Texas hunters. With the fall deer archery season underway, the wardens received an Operation Game Thief tip indicating that the two were hunting deer illegally in the Tahlequah area. Both Wardens May and Clark conducted extensive surveillance work on the suspects prior to their arrests to confirm the report.

Robert Andrews of Trinity, Texas and Hamp Henry Lewis of Bridge City, Texas were apprehended with six illegally taken whitetail deer in early October. "The two were almost ready to head back to Texas and had all six deer quartered and on ice ready for transport when they were apprehended", said Warden May. "They had taken four bucks and two does with rifles in closed season north of Tahlequah on private land. In addition, each defendant was charged for hunting without a non-resident license", said May.

"Blatant disregard for wildlife and the laws that provide legal hunting opportunities for responsible sportsmen should not be taken lightly by the courts or the public", said Warden Clark. "I believe they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and I would not want to take my chances with a jury of Cherokee county sportsmen", said Clark.
And the two agreed not to take that chance when they recently entered into plea agreements with the Cherokee County District Attorney's office. Assistant District Attorney Donovan Dobbs prosecuted the case and allowed the defendants to settle with a total of $6,000.00 in total fines and court costs. Each defendant will pay $3,000.00 consisting of $2,000.00 in fines and make a $1,000.00 contribution to Operation Game Thief. "Given the severity of the wildlife crimes, each defendant could have been charged over $4,000.00 in fines, faced up to 120 days in jail or both fine and imprisonment", said ADA Dobbs. "In addition, they could have had their rifles and equipment forfeited and their hunting privileges revoked in Oklahoma". ADA Dobbs was recently selected as the 2006 Wildlife D.A. of the Year by the Oklahoma State Game Warden's Association. The meat was donated to the Wildlife Department's "Hunter's Against Hunger" program and will be donated to food distribution programs for the needy in the Tahlequah area.

Operation Game Thief is the Department of Wildlife's hotline in which cash rewards can be given for information leading to the arrest and conviction of violators of Oklahoma's game and fish laws. You can help by calling 1800-522-8039 to report violations that you see or have knowledge of. You need not give your name. You will be identified by a code so that you can collect your cash reward and remain anonymous. A list of phone numbers for Game Wardens in every county can be found in the 2006-2007 Hunting Guide or by logging onto the department's web site at www.wildlifedepartment.com.