The Turn in Poachers (TIP) hotline provided Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conservation officers several leads recently leading to possible fine and restitution amounts totaling nearly $8,000.
Officer Chris Vinton, Detroit Lakes, received a TIP call April 1 about some Indiana anglers fishing Straight Lake near Osage in northern Minnesota. With the assistance of Officer Dennis Lang, Perham, they found violations ranging from license fraud, misdemeanor over-limits of sunfish and crappie, and gross misdemeanor gross over-limit of sunfish. A total of 299 fish were found in excess of legal limits.
Donald B. Blauvelt, 51; Donald M. Chester, 75; David L. Beard, 53; Justin M. Beard, 30; and Robert Leslie Jr., 40; all of Ft. Wayne, Ind., face possible fines and restitution totaling $6,000. Also seized in the investigation were angling licenses, fishing rods and an auger.
Blauvelt, who pled guilty in Becker County District Court on April 5, was sentenced to $3,200 fine/restitution, sentenced to 365 days in jail stayed for two years and prohibited from fishing for two years. Officers found Blauvelt 239 sunfish over the limit (legal limit is 20 sunfish per angler; 20 gifted to a companion).
The court fined Donald M. Chester nearly $175 for purchasing a resident fishing license.
Court appearances are set for May 2 for David L. Beard, Justin M. Beard and Robert Leslie Jr.
The three had 52 crappies (22 over-limit) and 98 sunfish (38 over-limit). Fines and restitution for the three amounts to $1,800.
In another case, Officer Tim Gray, Blackduck, received a call April 2 about a group of anglers keeping walleye and an over-limit of crappies on Red Lake in northwest Minnesota.
When Gray checked the anglers they were putting a walleye down a hole in the ice. Six more walleye were found under the back seat storage compartment of their vehicle.
There’s a moratorium on taking walleye from Red Lake. An over-limit of crappies was found packed inside a suitcase style ice shelter and in several buckets. The total number of fish possessed by the three adults and one juvenile angler were 100 crappies (legal possession limit is 10 per angler), seven walleye and 12 perch.
Charged were Viengxay Sivongxay, 44, and Phouvieng Davannavong, 36, both of Savage, and Thavy Chindavong, 52, of Brooklyn Park. The youth was not charged in the incident. The three men face a combined total of nearly $2,700 in fines and restitution.
Maj. Al Heidebrink, DNR enforcement operations manager, said the DNR appreciates help from the public and encourages people who see illegal fishing activities to call the TIP line at 1-800-652-9093.
The more detailed the description, the more helpful it is to the officers, Heidebrink said. Most important are boat and vehicle license numbers, the number of people and the area where the activity took place.
Related Articles:
- Minnesota angler faces nearly $4,500 in fines and restitution A Minnesota man faces nearly $4,500 in...
- Wisconsin anglers face fines, restitution totaling nearly $7,000 in Minnesota Five anglers from Wisconsin face fines and...
- 2005 Minnesota Fishing Regulations DNR announces new 2005 fishing regulations for...
- Wisconsin Anglers – BUSTED! Wisconsin anglers caught with 220 sunfish over...
- Anglers caught with 106 fish over the limit The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)...
