Two East Texans Indicted in Kansas
Posted/updated on: July 21, 2011 at 2:29 am
WICHITA, KAN. – Two East Texas hunters have been indicted on federal poaching charges. The announcement was made yesterday by U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.
Justin Klein, 29, of Center, was indicted on three counts of transporting deer across state lines after the deer were illegally taken in Kansas. The indictment alleges the deer were taken in violation of Kansas hunting laws November 1, 2006, and November 1, 2007, in Comanche County, Kansas.
Johnny Risinger, 43, of Mt. Enterprise, was indicted on one count of transporting a deer across state lines after the deer was illegally taken in Kansas. The indictment alleges the deer was taken in violation of Kansas hunting laws on December 1, 2005, in Comanche County, Kansas.
Both men are charged under the Lacey Act, which is a federal law that makes it illegal to knowingly transport or sell in interstate commerce any wildlife taken or possessed in violation of state law or regulation. If convicted, Risinger and Klein face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $20,000 on each count.
The indictments are related to a federal investigation that led to the convictions of James Bobby Butler, Jr., and Marlin Jackson Butler on charges of conspiracy and interstate trafficking of game illegally taken in Kansas. James Butler was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison and Marlin Butler was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. The two Nacogdoches County men ran a hunting camp in Kansas. James Bobby Butler Jr. was accused along with his brother with offering guided hunts to hunters who paid thousands of dollars to kill deer illegally.
