BearHunter
03-04-2004, 04:41 AM
Do you ever wonder if your butcher is giving you all your venison?
By Brigitte Ruthman
© 2004 Republican-American
LITCHFIELD — A local custom meat processing plant was ordered to pay $5,700 in penalties Tuesday for stealing deer meat from at least one hunter and selling it illegally.
Charges against Robert Clark, 58, of Harwinton and the owner of the Litchfield Locker Corp., were dropped during a hearing in Bantam Court.
Hartford-based attorney Hope Seeley entered a no contest plea on behalf of the corporation, meaning the business did not contest the charges because the weight of evidence was enough to win a conviction. Judge Elizabeth Bozzuto accepted the plea and convicted the business of five counts of illegally selling wildlife meat and one count of sixth-degree larceny.
Clark declined to comment.
The sentencing agreement was framed by Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Andrew Wittstein to avoid trial. Wittstein said it would have been difficult, based on the evidence, to convict Clark.
In accordance with the agreement, Bozzuto ordered the business to pay a $1,700 fine to the
state's general fund, and a $4,000 contribution to a state victims compensation fund.
In addition, an unnamed customer who paid the processing plant to butcher his deer taken legally during the hunting season will be paid $50 for the portion that wasn't returned to him.
The hunter was one of several who believed they were missing choice cuts of meat after paying to have their deer butchered at the business on Route 118.
Just one case was confirmed, based on the results of DNA testing conducted at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensic Lab in Oregon, but several hunters lodged complaints, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Matt Fritz said.
Investigators from the DEP, state troopers and officers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed 400 pounds of meat in the fall of 2002, plus business records when they converged upon the locker.
Authorities said the deer meat was being sold to the public for up to $17 per pound over the counter. It is illegal to sell white-tailed deer meat in Connecticut because it is considered wild game and not subject to federal inspection laws. However, hunters are allowed to take home what they kill legally and retail businesses are allowed to sell farm-raised red stag.
As part of the investigation, DEP officers posed as customers who purchased venison over the counter. That meat was matched with frozen meat processed for hunters through the DNA testing.
Seeley declined to comment about the case, saying only the agreement to drop charges against Clark speaks volumes.
Processing deer meat, which is also known as venison, is a very small portion of the Litchfield Locker's business and is only conducted during a limited time of the year. The deer hunting season runs from mid-September until the end of December.
"This business was caught because hunters complained and we got a legal resolution," DEP Capt. Arul Camejo said. "With the advances of science, we have the tools available to successfully prosecute these cases. Technology is advancing, so it will get easier for us. Hunters will be watching to make sure they get what they pay for."
By Brigitte Ruthman
© 2004 Republican-American
LITCHFIELD — A local custom meat processing plant was ordered to pay $5,700 in penalties Tuesday for stealing deer meat from at least one hunter and selling it illegally.
Charges against Robert Clark, 58, of Harwinton and the owner of the Litchfield Locker Corp., were dropped during a hearing in Bantam Court.
Hartford-based attorney Hope Seeley entered a no contest plea on behalf of the corporation, meaning the business did not contest the charges because the weight of evidence was enough to win a conviction. Judge Elizabeth Bozzuto accepted the plea and convicted the business of five counts of illegally selling wildlife meat and one count of sixth-degree larceny.
Clark declined to comment.
The sentencing agreement was framed by Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Andrew Wittstein to avoid trial. Wittstein said it would have been difficult, based on the evidence, to convict Clark.
In accordance with the agreement, Bozzuto ordered the business to pay a $1,700 fine to the
state's general fund, and a $4,000 contribution to a state victims compensation fund.
In addition, an unnamed customer who paid the processing plant to butcher his deer taken legally during the hunting season will be paid $50 for the portion that wasn't returned to him.
The hunter was one of several who believed they were missing choice cuts of meat after paying to have their deer butchered at the business on Route 118.
Just one case was confirmed, based on the results of DNA testing conducted at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensic Lab in Oregon, but several hunters lodged complaints, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Matt Fritz said.
Investigators from the DEP, state troopers and officers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed 400 pounds of meat in the fall of 2002, plus business records when they converged upon the locker.
Authorities said the deer meat was being sold to the public for up to $17 per pound over the counter. It is illegal to sell white-tailed deer meat in Connecticut because it is considered wild game and not subject to federal inspection laws. However, hunters are allowed to take home what they kill legally and retail businesses are allowed to sell farm-raised red stag.
As part of the investigation, DEP officers posed as customers who purchased venison over the counter. That meat was matched with frozen meat processed for hunters through the DNA testing.
Seeley declined to comment about the case, saying only the agreement to drop charges against Clark speaks volumes.
Processing deer meat, which is also known as venison, is a very small portion of the Litchfield Locker's business and is only conducted during a limited time of the year. The deer hunting season runs from mid-September until the end of December.
"This business was caught because hunters complained and we got a legal resolution," DEP Capt. Arul Camejo said. "With the advances of science, we have the tools available to successfully prosecute these cases. Technology is advancing, so it will get easier for us. Hunters will be watching to make sure they get what they pay for."