April 5, 2013
From BillingsGazette.com
Four Michigan men have been convicted on illegal hunting charges that recently netted a total of $7,045 in fines and restitution in Montana.
One member of the party, Russell Lee Vandercook Sr., 52, of Lapeer, Mich., was investigated in four different Montana counties for hunting without valid licenses and license fraud regarding his legal residency.
In Gallatin County Justice Court in Bozeman, Vandercook pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of possessing unlawfully killed bull elk without a license. He was fined $370 and paid $2,000 in restitution and lost his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for a year for those violations.
Vandercook also pleaded guilty in:
· Roosevelt County Justice Court in Wolf Point to purchasing resident deer/elk licenses for nonresident use. He was fined $320 and lost his privileges for a year.
· Yellowstone County Justice Court in Billings to making a false statement when purchasing deer and elk hunting licenses. He was fined $320 and lost his privileges for a year.
· McCone County Justice Court in Circle to hunting a game animal and birds without valid licenses. He was fined $670 and ordered to pay $600 in restitution for a mule deer buck and four pheasants and lost his privileges for a year.
Also recently convicted in McCone County Justice Court were:
· Fred Lovasz, 77, of Columbiaville, Mich. He was fined $535 for hunting deer without a valid license; fined $535 and ordered to pay $500 in restitution for unlawfully possessing a mule deer buck; and fined $235 for using another person’s deer license.
· Steve A. Lovasz, 42, of Fostoria, Mich. He was fined $535 for unlawfully possessing a mule deer buck and $235 for letting another person use his deer license.
· Ronald Lee Eaton, 31, of Flint, Mich. He was fined $55 for failing to wear hunter’s orange while hunting and $135 for unlawfully using two-way communications while hunting.