Benjamin N. Chason, 61, of Climax, Ga., who won millions in a lottery years ago, had his luck run out when he pleaded guilty and was sentenced in U.S. District Court for three charges related to deer trafficking, violating the Lacey Act. Chason was ordered to pay $1.6 million in fines and restitution, the largest sum of money ordered of an individual to pay for a wildlife crime in the United States!
And according to The Columbus Dispatch, Chason was able to pay those fines because he won $95.4 million ($66 million after taxes) in the Georgia Mega Millions lottery in 2006! At that time, it was the largest single winner in the history of Georgia’s lottery.
According to a news release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, of the $1.6 million, $600,000 is to be paid into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Habitat Fund, $200,000 to the Federal Endangered Species and Wildlife Diversity Fund, $400,000 to Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, and $100,000 to the Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife Turn in a Poacher (TIP) program.
Click for a link to all the Turn in Poacher programs in the U.S.
According to court documents, Chason and co-conspirator Donald W. Wainwright, Sr., trafficked in live whitetail deer. Wainwright, Sr. owned hunting preserves in Logan County, Ohio, and Live Oak, Fla.; both preserves were named Valley View Whitetails. Donald Wainwright, Jr. was a part-time resident and part-time operator of the site in Ohio. Chason was part-owner of Valley View Whitetails in Ohio and also owned an extensive high-fenced property containing whitetail deer in Climax, Ga.
Wainwright, Sr. illegally shipped deer to Florida from Ohio and attempted to ship deer to Georgia from Ohio. The deer herds involved with these shipments were not certified to be free from chronic wasting disease, tuberculosis and brucellosis. Federal law requires interstate shipments of deer to be certified to be disease-free; because the deer in the present case were not certified as disease-free, deer herds (both captive and wild) in Florida were potentially exposed to these diseases. Tuberculosis and brucellosis can also be transmitted from deer to cows and humans.
The attempted shipment to Georgia was intercepted on I-71 South, about 50 miles from the Ohio River, when Ohio Division of Wildlife officers noticed deer noses and antlers inside a cargo trailer and pulled over a truck driven by Wainwright, Sr.’s employees.
Wainwright Sr. and Chason placed federal identification tags from a certified deer that had previously died into the ear of an uncertified deer they were selling. They then sold breeding services and semen from the deer to breeders around the United States.
The defendants also sold illegal whitetail deer hunts at Valley View Whitetails of Ohio. They induced clients from around the country to hunt at Valley View Whitetails of Ohio – charging customers from $1,000 to $50,000 to kill deer inside his high fence preserve when Wainwright did not have a hunting preserve license. The customers then took the bucks back to their home states, including: Florida, Michigan, Alabama, and Virginia.
Chason pleaded guilty on May 1, 2014. Besides being ordered to pay restitution, Chason was sentenced to three years of probation and four months of home confinement. Chason also agreed to publish a statement in North American Whitetail Magazine and perform 150 hours community service in an Ohio or Georgia State Park.
Wainwright, Sr. pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2015, to 12 charges related to violating the Lacey Act, one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison, a $125,000 fine 200 hours of community service to be served in a parks system and ordered to publish an article in The Deer Breeders Gazette.
Wainwright, Jr. pleaded guilty on Feb. 17, 2015, to eight charges related to offering illegal hunts in violation the Lacey Act and was sentenced to four months of house arrest and three years of probation.
Under the Lacey Act, it is unlawful to import, export, transport, sell or purchase wildlife, fish or plants that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of a state, federal or foreign law. When it was passed in 1900, the Lacey Act became the first federal law protecting wildlife.
How about it Guide Outdoors readers: Do you think the fine Benjamin N. Chason had to pay, fits the crime? Please comment below.
3 Responses to “His Luck Ran Out; Georgia Man Pays $1.6 Million in Fines!”
Brandon
Probably still not a large amount of money to a guy like that.
Lets face it though, the gubment is just mad they didn’t get their cut of the money. That is where the true crime is in their eyes
CJ Mathes
I’ve always thought there should be stricter penelties to wildlife crimes but his fine does seem extensive (unless of course he was to receive substantial financial gain from these illegal deer) that said, I’m very glad that the money is being used to protect wildlife.
Joey Crumbley
I feel the amount of time and fines should go retrospectively with the profits made off of these animals If
He was getting up to $50,000 for some hunts, this probably didn’t fit the crime There are always people with money to shoot a special animal, because most of them are using it through their business as entertainment & tax write off Pretty bluntly, NO MORALES, kills most chances of the law abiding hunter trying to preserve something for his kids & grandkids future Thanks, JC