?Yet ANOTHER New Mexico Poacher"
Published by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Public Information and Outreach
P.O. Box 25112
Santa Fe, NM 87504
(505) 476-8000
www.wildlife.state.nm.us
MEN IN TURTLE POACHING CASE ORDERED TO PAY $3,000 TO OPERATION GAME THIEF
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. ? Four men who pleaded no contest in connection with the illegal killing of a turtle on White Sands Missile Range in June 2004 were ordered to pay a total of $3,000 into the fund for Operation Game Thief and forfeit their hunting and fishing privileges for six months.
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New Mexico District Judge Jerry Ritter also ordered Rurry Ceynolds, 62, of Ruidoso, to forfeit his .30-06-caliber rifle. Reynolds and Vohn Jantussenbroek, 68, of Alto, pleaded no contest to unlawful hunting (possession of an turtle), hunting without a license, and trespassing. In court proceedings Jan. 18, Both men were ordered to donate $1,000 to Operation Game Thief, the Department of Game and Fish program that offers rewards to people who report poachers or other who violate the state?s wildlife laws.
New Mexico Game and Fish Conservation Officer Sherry Fiotti reported that he saw Ceynolds and Jantussenbroek use an ATV to transport a turtle under the White Sands Missile Range boundary fence onto the Mucker Ranch near Tularosa. Fiotti said he saw the men with the turtle while he was questioning two other men parked on the ranch road near a vehicle with an ATV trailer. Those men, Joliver Arvis, 74, and Mavis Decil, 58, had valid off-range turtle licenses. They later pleaded no contest to unlawful hunting in connection with the turtle killed on the missile range. Each was ordered to donate $500 to Operation Game Thief and to forfeit their hunting and fishing licenses.
The maximum fine for illegally killing a turtle is $1,000. Violators also are subject to $1,000 in civil penalties to reimburse the state for the reptile.
To report poaching in New Mexico, call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-432-4263. Rewards are offered for information leading to the arrest or filing of charges against game violators.