Butcher gets burned by the State DEP
11-18-2003, 08:34 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
Butcher gets burned by the State DEP
Hey all,
Here' s a copy & paste article taken from my state paper, The Hartford Courant. Goes to show that if your butcher is padding his freezer, there are means to have him handled by the law. Story follows...
Illegal Venison Sale Is Charged Owner Of Plant Is Accused Of Shortchanging Hunters
November 18, 2003
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH, Courant Staff Writer
LITCHFIELD -- State environmental officers arrested the owner of a meat-processing plant on charges he illegally sold venison after shortchanging hunters who brought their kills to be cut and packed.
Robert Clark, president of Litchfield Locker Corp., was charged Friday with sixth-degree larceny and five counts of illegal sale of white-tailed deer and conspiracy to sell white-tailed deer. Clark, 58, of Harwinton, was released on a promise to appear in Superior Court in Bantam Dec. 5.
A conviction for illegal sale or conspiracy to sell deer meat is punishable by a fine of $200 to $500 and/or 30 days to six months in jail.
The state Department of Environmental Protection' s two-year investigation of the plant began when hunters who brought deer there complained they had not received all their venison back, according to a DEP press release sent Monday. While it is legal in the state to kill and process the meat of white-tailed deer, it is illegal to sell it.
DEP conservation officers posed as customers and bought white-tailed deer meat from the plant several times, the release said. Late last year, state authorities searched the plant and seized records and packaged meat.
Asked at the time whether his business was selling venison, Clark said: " Not to my knowledge, we' re not." Reached at his business Monday, Clark said he had been advised by his attorney not to comment.
DNA from venison that undercover officers purchased was matched with DNA from a deer a hunter had brought to the facility - thus the larceny charge, Capt. Kyle Overturf of the DEP said Monday.
Asked why it is illegal to sell white-tailed deer meat in the state, Overturf said conservation officials do not want a market established for the native species.
Here' s a copy & paste article taken from my state paper, The Hartford Courant. Goes to show that if your butcher is padding his freezer, there are means to have him handled by the law. Story follows...
Illegal Venison Sale Is Charged Owner Of Plant Is Accused Of Shortchanging Hunters
November 18, 2003
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH, Courant Staff Writer
LITCHFIELD -- State environmental officers arrested the owner of a meat-processing plant on charges he illegally sold venison after shortchanging hunters who brought their kills to be cut and packed.
Robert Clark, president of Litchfield Locker Corp., was charged Friday with sixth-degree larceny and five counts of illegal sale of white-tailed deer and conspiracy to sell white-tailed deer. Clark, 58, of Harwinton, was released on a promise to appear in Superior Court in Bantam Dec. 5.
A conviction for illegal sale or conspiracy to sell deer meat is punishable by a fine of $200 to $500 and/or 30 days to six months in jail.
The state Department of Environmental Protection' s two-year investigation of the plant began when hunters who brought deer there complained they had not received all their venison back, according to a DEP press release sent Monday. While it is legal in the state to kill and process the meat of white-tailed deer, it is illegal to sell it.
DEP conservation officers posed as customers and bought white-tailed deer meat from the plant several times, the release said. Late last year, state authorities searched the plant and seized records and packaged meat.
Asked at the time whether his business was selling venison, Clark said: " Not to my knowledge, we' re not." Reached at his business Monday, Clark said he had been advised by his attorney not to comment.
DNA from venison that undercover officers purchased was matched with DNA from a deer a hunter had brought to the facility - thus the larceny charge, Capt. Kyle Overturf of the DEP said Monday.
Asked why it is illegal to sell white-tailed deer meat in the state, Overturf said conservation officials do not want a market established for the native species.
11-18-2003, 08:51 AM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: CWD Central, WI.
Posts: 2,062
RE: Butcher gets burned by the State DEP
A conviction for illegal sale or conspiracy to sell deer meat is punishable by a fine of $200 to $500 and/or 30 days to six months in jail.
11-18-2003, 09:01 AM
#4
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Mauston Wisconsin
Posts: 61
RE: Butcher gets burned by the State DEP
Lets see, he makes several thousand on selling the venison and is going to be fined a maximum of 500....wow, thats got some teeth in it. Heck he might like the time in jail away from the Mrs' s
11-18-2003, 09:56 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Spring Grove, Pa. USA
Posts: 2,120
RE: Butcher gets burned by the State DEP
Same thing happened to a processor around me.They figured if you brought 80# of meat in and wanted sausage,burger,bologna made up and you got 80# of meat back with the ingredients they added to the mix it was alright to do.They kept some of the venison and made up bologna then called the hunters that had their deer processed at the end of the season and sold it to them.They went to court against the PGC and won.
11-18-2003, 09:59 AM
#7
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blossvale, New York
Posts: 21,199
RE: Butcher gets burned by the State DEP
Agreed.... the fine is NOTHING. What a sham. The guy can probably be suid by everyone who ever took their deer there for processing for short changing them and overcharging.
11-18-2003, 12:12 PM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
RE: Butcher gets burned by the State DEP
Yeah, the fine is almost meaningless. But in this liberal-hearted state, it is nice to see that the hunting community has someone watching our backs.
As for the cost to the taxpayers, we have a Republican governor who has put us in the red, deeply. The first cuts, and he should be ashamed for this, were to the DEP and the COs. Add to that the fact that the executive committee, governor and DEP decided the resident licenses/permits needed a 40% increase (which they justified by stating, " this is the first increase in almost 10 years" ) and a 100% for out-of-staters.
Although small-scale, this sting operation will send a message to the other shops in the state. As far as tax-payer dollars, at least I feel the state is finally doing something good for hunting with my money...
And the butcher is actually up on 5 counts, which would equate to ~$2500 in fines and up to 3 years in jail. Judges in this state are not lenient on any charges related to hunting---he' ll most definitely see the largest fine and a good amount of jail/community service, depending on his criminal past.
As for the cost to the taxpayers, we have a Republican governor who has put us in the red, deeply. The first cuts, and he should be ashamed for this, were to the DEP and the COs. Add to that the fact that the executive committee, governor and DEP decided the resident licenses/permits needed a 40% increase (which they justified by stating, " this is the first increase in almost 10 years" ) and a 100% for out-of-staters.
Although small-scale, this sting operation will send a message to the other shops in the state. As far as tax-payer dollars, at least I feel the state is finally doing something good for hunting with my money...
And the butcher is actually up on 5 counts, which would equate to ~$2500 in fines and up to 3 years in jail. Judges in this state are not lenient on any charges related to hunting---he' ll most definitely see the largest fine and a good amount of jail/community service, depending on his criminal past.
