October 3, 2017
From Jacksonville.com
RUNSWICK, GA. | An avid Long County hunter is headed to federal prison for 2½ years having been caught near — but not in — his own trap.
Robert Junior Stanfield, 49, showed up on Georgia Department of Natural Resources ranger’s game camera on Dec. 27, 2016, checking his traps, one of which had an opossum in it. The camera caught images showing he was obeying a Georgia law requiring trappers to carry a small caliber rifle to humanely kill any prey caught in their leg-hold traps.
In carrying that 7 mm rifle, Stanfield was violating another law, one that forbids felons from possessing firearms.
After his arrest by Georgia DNR Ranger Patrick Gibbs, a federal grand jury indicted Stanfield on a single count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He pleaded guilty in June and U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood sentenced Stanfield on Monday to 30 months in prison to be served consecutively to any state sentence for the same arrest.
When he appeared in court Monday, Stanfield wore an inmate’s jump suit. He’s serving combined sentences of about seven years for probation violations for possession of the firearm, killing a deer at night and possession of methamphetamine.
He also has charges pending on a state indictment charging him with a separate count of possession of a firearm by a felon and five counts of unlawful trapping practices.
Although he had a rifle with him, he failed to use it to “dispatch” an animal caught in one of his traps and he also didn’t carry a choke stick that could be used to release any domestic animals, the indictment says.
He also didn’t inspect his traps every 24 hours as required nor did he stamp his traps identifying them as his, the indictment says.
During his sentencing Monday, Stanfield’s lawyer, Stephanie McDonald, told the court Gibbs, who lived near Stanfield, had a personal dislike for her client and had gone after him.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg told Wood that was not the case, that Stanfield had had contact with at least a dozen law enforcement officers, had been arrested in seven counties and convicted in five.
He also said Stanfield had a history of recidivision.
Within days of being sentenced for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Stanfield was back in the woods with a gun, Hertzberg said.
“This defendant doesn’t need anyone with animus to get him into trouble,” Hertzberg said.
Gibbs testified when he encountered Stanfield, he was investigating a tip Stanfield was illegally selling deer and raccoon meat, and had been hunting at night.
Gibbs testified he got a call in January 2016 at 3 a.m. informing him Stanfield just killed a deer at night, which is illegal in Georgia.
“I went over and found him dragging out a deer,” he testified.
For his part, Stanfield apologized to the court and denied some of the allegations.
“I didn’t mean no harm to nobody,” he said. “I didn’t sell no deer meat or nothing like that.”