Three men convicted in one of Wyoming’s largest poaching cases ever

A case that has been going on for years…

“Three men charged with more than 100 wildlife violations were convicted on numerous charges in what is one of the largest poaching cases in Wyoming history.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) issued a press release detailing the case that stems back to the fall of 2015. According to the release, Russell Vick of Alabama, Robert Underwood of Oklahoma, and David Underwood of South Dakota were convicted of multiple wildlife offenses and cumulatively fined $171,230 and $131,550 in restitution.

Punishments also included prison time and lifetime hunting and fishing bans. The case involved charges of poaching multiple wildlife species that included bighorn sheep, elk, moose, mule deer and antelope.

The charges were prosecuted across four different Wyoming counties. It was the result of a seven-year, multi-agency investigation that spanned four states and involved thousands of hours of investigations.

“Investigating and successfully prosecuting a case of this size and scope required years of effort by many individuals and agencies,” said Rick King, Wyoming Game and Fish chief game warden. “Dozens of people worked hard to make sure that even though some of these violations occurred a decade or more ago, they would not go unpunished.”

According to the release, the case started in October of 2015 when a Gillette, Wyo., game warden received a request from a hunter for an interstate game tag to be used with a deer head being shipped to Vick for taxidermy work at an Alabama address. A database search showed Vick having a Wyoming address, and that he had purchased resident licenses in Wyoming for multiple years. ”

The full article can be found here.

Photo Credit: Original Author

---