January 11, 2016
From SMNewsNet.com
Two poachers who picked on the wrong deer—a police decoy—had their hunting licenses suspended and their gear seized Thursday by a district judge in St. Mary’s County.
David James Few, 21, and Brian Kelley Stitely, 24, were caught by Maryland Natural Resources Police on a stakeout on Oct. 23 last year as they spotlighted and shot the agency’s “Robo-Deer” from a road in Leonardtown.
In court, both men pleaded guilty to casting rays with an implement (spotlighting).
Few received a 30-day suspended sentence, two years of unsupervised probation and had his hunting privileges suspended for two years.
The judge sentenced Stitely to a 30-day suspended sentence and three years of unsupervised probation. His hunting privileges, already suspended in Maryland through 2018 and in 44 other states as part of the Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact, were further suspended until 2023.