Alberta couple fined $100K over poaching convictions

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
29,151
3
36
London, Ontario
Alberta couple fined $100K over poaching convictions

CTVNews.ca Staff
An Alberta couple has been handed $100,000 in fines after pleading guilty to numerous convictions in one of the largest illegal hunting investigations ever carried out in the province.



Former hunting guide Chris Brophy and his partner Michelle Hazeloh originally faced a whopping 131 charges under the provincial Wildlife Act related to poaching game-farm deer out of season and then abandoning the bodies. But 110 of the charges were dropped after the couple agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to 21 of the offences.
Court heard the couple would typically slay deer out of season and at night, removing the head and leaving the rest of the animal behind.
In the end, they were found guilty of charges that included: hunting with prohibited firearms; firing from a motor vehicle; hunting on a domestic game farm; hunting without licenses; and illegally abandoning edible meat.
In addition to the $100,000 fine, Brophy and Hazeloh must give up their Hummer, which prosecutors said they used to carry out their crimes. The couple is also banned from hunting for 25 years.
"On the recreational side, (the sentence) is probably one of the highest," Fish and Wildlife officer Quentin Isley told CTV Edmonton. "In Alberta's history, anyways."
Investigators first became suspicious after receiving tips through Alberta's "Report a Poacher" program about strange activity across a wide swath of the province in 2010 and 2011.
An extensive investigation involving bait deer, DNA testing and even GPS trackers attached to the couple's vehicle revealed the illegal poaching.
"We had forensics, we had assistance from the Edmonton city police, the RCMP," Isley said. "It was a significant amount of effort from the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Branch."
The Crown also argued the couple should have a GPS tracker installed in their vehicles for the next five to 10 years, but the judge declined, saying he didn't think the couple would re-offend.
"If they do come back, they'll likely face jail time," he warned.
Todd Zimmerline, of the Alberta Conservation Association, said he hopes the case leads to an increase in calls to the Report a Poacher tip line.
"It's vital that the general public understand the difference between a hunter and a poacher," he said.
With a report from CTV Edmonton's Bill Fortier

Alberta couple fined $100K over poaching convictions | Sympatico.ca News

I hope they are able to collect some of that 100K. What these people did is just sickening. What a waste!
 

Nuggler

kind and gentle
Feb 27, 2006
11,596
140
63
Backwater, Ontario.
I don't feel at all sorry for them, but where the hell does one dig up 100K? They might be looking at jail right now............I hope.
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
38
kelowna bc
They should get jail time and pay in cash up front the fine. Failure to do so they should serve
the twenty five years of the hunting ban in prison. Well maybe a little harsh but serious jail
time is required here.
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
38
kelowna bc
For these two I don't think hunger was the issue greed was the issue and they should
be paid in spades for what they did. These people stole from the crown or better yet
from you and I and there should not be a way out for them.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
27,780
285
83
bliss
Big fines don't go far enough! Their butts should be in prison! There's no excuse for poaching!

I don't support the notion of locking up a tax payer and putting them on my dime instead, unless they are a threat to society. And 'abandoning edible meat', etc., is not exactly something that makes them a threat to you or me.