PINEDALE - Pinedale game wardens spent much of the Thanksgiving weekend investigating two multiple deer poaching cases and gave thanks in March and April to convictions received by two violators.
For a nighttime poaching spree Nov. 26-27 near Boulder claiming four mule deer bucks, Michael Benjamin Acuna, was assessed $17,000 in fines and restitution - plus sentenced to 2-3 years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary for being a felon in possession of a firearm when committing the crimes.
Acuna, 37, was convicted of one count of the “winter range statute” for taking an antlered deer out of season, two counts of wanton destruction of deer, one count of taking a deer out of season and one count of using artificial light to take a deer. He was also sentenced to 2.5 years in the Sublette County Jail to run concurrently with his prison term and had his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for 20 years.
During sentencing March 23, Sublette County Circuit Judge John Crow said the fines and restitution would be waved if a $5,500 donation to the Wyoming Wildlife Protector’s Association - administrator of the Stop Poaching Program - was made before the defendant’s future parole was ended.
District Court Judge Norman Young sentenced Acuna to the prison term for the felony charge on April 6.
Game wardens were first alerted to the Acuna case at 4 a.m. Nov. 27 while keeping the apartment of a suspect in another case under surveillance. The sheriff’s office was looking for a man who had trespassed into a Pinedale residence to sleep on a couch. The Wyoming Highway Patrol later located the suspect at a convenience store and notified the Game and Fish Department of a buck mule deer in the back of his truck. The suspect, Michael Acuna, was booked into the Sublette County Jail for being a felon in possession of a firearm and the out-of-season deer.
Around 3 p.m. Game Warden Herb Haley obtained a search warrant and inspected the truck. Acuna claimed the deer - although a mule deer - was shot in the Sheridan area where the whitetail season was still open. When confronted with receipts found in the vehicle that tied him to Pinedale for the last 24 hours, Acuna claimed the deer was then shot near South Pass, where the season was also closed.
A call received earlier that morning reporting two dead buck mule deer in the Burnt Lake area shed some light on Acuna’s South Pass alibi, but raised another question. Off-road tire tracks crisscrossing the sagebrush terrain at the scene matched the tread on Acuna’s vehicle, but a deer hide and gut pile found there were not from the deer in Acuna’s truck. In subsequent interviews, Acuna admitted to killing the Burnt Lake deer including another buck, which he field-dressed and skinned, before traveling about 6 miles to the Mesa area. During his travels, he encountered another bigger buck - with approximately 24-inch wide and heavier antlers - shot and loaded it, while discarding the skinned carcass from the previous location. Acuna later assisted the investigation by drawing officers a map to find the fourth deer.
Acuna told officers he drove to Pinedale from Jackson the previous day in his girlfriend’s pick-up and decided to shoot deer to help vent pent-up rage. The deer were shot in the head or neck from 30-60 yards with a friend’s 30.06 rifle.
“The poaching occurred in the middle of a large migration route used by thousands of deer to get to their winter range from the highly coveted Sublette Mule Deer herd,” said South Pinedale Game Warden Brian Nesvik. “In the one evening killing spree, in a violent rage and by his own admission heavily intoxicated, this man killed more buck mule deer than many Wyoming sportsman harvest in decades of hunting.”
Acuna was held in the Sublette County Jail until his girlfriend posted his $25,000 bond in late December. Following his April 6 district court appearance, Acuna was returned to the penitentiary in Rawlins where he previously served nearly 4 years for aggravated assault.
When the Acuna case unfolded, game wardens Haley, Nesvik and Brad Hovinga of Big Piney were on duty to investigate and arrest suspects in another case of poaching two mule deer. The result of that work were two Pinedale energy field workers being charged for their roles in poaching a buck and a doe Nov. 24 near Boulder and Fremont lakes.
Billy Joe Lyle, 46, was convicted April 6, 2006 of one count of wanton destruction and one count of accessory to taking a deer out of season. Judge Crow fined him $1460 and assessed $1,000 in restitution, revoked his hunting and fishing privileges for 6 years and ordered him to serve 60 days in the Sublette County Jail with all but six days suspended. The $1,000 restitution was waived for a $500 donation to the protector’s association.
Raymond G. Herring, 46, was charged with taking a deer out of season and accessory to taking a deer out of season. He left town before entering a plea and forfeited a $500 bond. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Herring is a white male, 6 foot 1 inch, approximately 240 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.
“The quick apprehension of these suspects and resolution of both of these cases would not have been possible without the assistance of County Attorney Ralph Boynton over the Thanksgiving weekend,” Nesvik said. “He was available when needed during the holiday to offer advice and guidance, including obtaining the search warrant, to help us build solid cases.”
An anonymous tip led officers to the pair and searches of Herring’s apartment and Lyle’s camp trailer yielding packages of venison and bloody butchering equipment. First Lyle and then Herring took officers to the crime scenes where the deer were shot with a .22 caliber rifle. The buck, which Lyle described as “pretty big” was not recovered.
Lyle, who works as a welder, lists his permanent residence as Queen City, Texas. Herring worked as a drill hand and had his truck registered in Hephzibah, Ga.
Anyone spotting Herring or has information about any other wildlife violation, is urged to call the Stop Poaching Hotline at 442-4331. Callers can remain anonymous and are eligible for a cash reward if the information leads to a conviction.