Popular fishing YouTuber Ben Milliken arrested for fraud

NACOGDOCHES – According to our news partner KETK, a professional angler and fishing YouTuber was arrested in Nacogdoches on Thursday for fraud in a freshwater fishing tournament.

Benjamin Milliken, 35 of New Caney, turned himself in to Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday for the charge of fraud at freshwater fishing tournament, according to a statement from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department(TPWD). TPWD said that Milliken turned in a Legacy Class ShareLunker bass caught at Lake Naconiche in February as an entry into the Toyota ShareLunker Program. The program rewards prizes over $10,000.

According to TPWD, their due diligence process discovered that Milliken allegedly didn’t have a valid fishing license when he caught the fish and filled out the program’s contest/tournament entry form.

TPWD said that Milliken has been disqualified from the Toyota ShareLunker Program and cited for fishing with out a license on top of the fraud charge he turned himself in for.

Milliken was booked and released from Nacogdoches County Jail on Thursday, Dec. 12, according to Nacogdoches County Jail records. Milliken took to Facebook on Friday Dec. 13 to say that the incident happened when he was recreationally fishing and not while he was participating in any tournament.

According to the Texas House of Representatives, fraud in a fishing tournament is a Class A misdemeanor, unless the tournament’s prize is worth $10,000 or more, in which case it’s a third degree felony.

According to Bassmaster, Milliken is sponsored by 6th Sense Fishing and has won $181,844 in prizes throughout his career.

On Sunday, Dec. 15, a video his attempting to explain the situation titled “I got ARRESTED after Filming this Fishing Video…” was uploaded to the Milliken Fishing YouTube channel, which has 572,000 subscribers.