Casper – Wyoming Game and Fish Department investigators recently closed two poaching cases that resulted in more than $3,900 in fines and send a message to poachers that time and distance are not an obstacle when it comes to solving wildlife crimes in Wyoming.

In the first case, Scott A. Johnson, 37, of Cheyenne was fined $200 for transferring an antelope license and $200 for transferring a deer license to his cousin, James J. Kiesow of Falls Creek, Wis., in October 2004. Kiesow, 34, then harvested an antelope and a mule deer in Converse County on the illegally transferred licenses. Following an investigation, Kiesow was fined $410 for taking an antelope without a license and $410 for taking a deer without a license, and investigators confiscated the mounted deer and antelope heads as evidence. Kiesow was also fined $510 for hiring a person not licensed as a professional guide or outfitter. Game and Fish officers Mike Ehlebracht, Jim Gregory, Jim Seeman and John Demaree worked to solve the case.

"Transferring licenses is serious and it’s all too common," Ehlebracht said. "We do our best to catch violators, even if it is out of state or several years later. There is no statute of limitations on any wildlife crime in Wyoming."

In an unrelated case in Albany County, three men – Chad A. Berens of Casper, Todd M. Collins of Benson, Minn.. and Bryan W. Edwards of Bloomington, Minn. – were fined for harvesting big game animals without a license. The men were hunting in Albany County when Collins, 35, and Edwards, 37, each shot the same cow elk. Neither man had a license and they were each fined $780 for taking an elk without a license.

Berens, 32, faced a different set of fines for harvesting an antelope in Albany County without a license. He also provided a false statement to obtain a resident Wyoming small game license while still a Nebraska resident. Following a Game and Fish investigation, he was fined $410 for taking an antelope without a license and an additional $210 for providing a false statement to procure a license.

Tips to the Game and Fish Department led Investigator Jim Gregory to Minnesota and Wisconsin, where he interviewed Edwards and Collins. Both men eventually confessed to taking an elk without a license.

Ehlebracht said this case shows the length and distance the department will go to bring poachers to justice. "We sent investigators to Minnesota and Wisconsin to clear up these cases," he said. "Time and distance are not an obstacle when it comes to solving wildlife crimes."