A Virginia judge sentenced a man to nearly seven years in prison, $25,500 in fines and a five-year loss of his hunting privileges for poaching four elk, three deer, one black bear and a bobcat.
Virginia Conservation Police Officers (CPOs) investigated Nelson Drummond of Buchanan County, Virginia, after finding an illegally shot bull elk in April of 2016. Further investigation showed he used a .22 rifle with a laser sight to poach the animals. CPOs confiscated visual evidence of Drummond including one video where he described his actions as “Poaching 101.” An additional video showed Drummond laughing as he threw a dead deer off of a bridge onto a roadway below.
“There is no reason to kill animals in that nature,” said Judge Henry Barringer while handing down the decision.
He further characterized Drummond’s actions as “cruel.”
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation volunteer Leon Boyd, who also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, testified that RMEF contributed more than $100,000 toward the reintroduction of elk back onto its native Virginia range.
(Photo source: Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries)