15 people convicted for illegal fish sales

3/25/2005

FREMONT - A Fremont restaurant and 15 people have been convicted and fined thousands of dollars for the illegal sale of sport-caught fish, the Ohio Department of Resources announced this week.

Fines totaling $11,800 were levied against the defendants, who were charged beginning in May, 2004, and convicted between then and late February in Fremont Municipal Court and Sandusky County Common Pleas Court.

ODNR's Division of Wildlife conducted an undercover investigation, starting in 2002, of commercial poaching during the six-week spring fishing runs in the section of the Sandusky River that passes through Fremont.

Investigators found that some of the illegally caught bass and walleye were sold in the Columbus area for as much as three fish for $10.

"The illegal use of Ohio's natural resources will not be tolerated," said Terry Sunderhaus, law enforcement supervisor for the Division of Wildlife in northwest Ohio.

Besides the fines, the courts ordered that $4,470 in restitution be paid to the state, issued 35 years of fishing-license suspensions, and sentenced the defendants to a total of 72 days in jail.

Convicted and sentenced were:

●William D. Borham, 47, of Marengo, Ohio; one count of illegally selling sport-caught white bass; 30-day suspended jail term, $250 fine plus court costs and $460 in restitution, and a three-year fishing license suspension.

●Jamie R. Cummings, 25, of Marengo, Ohio; four counts of illegally selling sport-caught fish; 120 days in jail with 117 days suspended, $1,000 fine plus court costs, and a three-year fishing-license suspension.

●Jay N. Cummings, 29, of Delaware, Ohio; four counts of illegally selling sport-caught fish; 120 days in jail with 114 days suspended, $1,000 fine plus court costs, with $100 suspended, and a three-year fishing-license suspension.

●Jerry N. Cummings, 67, of Delaware, Ohio; two counts of illegally selling sport-caught fish; 60 days in jail, all suspended, $400 fine plus court costs, and a three-year fishing-license suspension.

●Joann Cummings, 56, of Delaware, Ohio; two counts of illegally selling sport-caught fish, 30 days in jail with 27 days suspended, $500 fine plus court costs, and a three-year fishing-license suspension.

●Willie Dudley, 68, of Maple Heights, Ohio; illegally purchasing sport-caught white bass, $100 fine plus court costs.

●Larry R. Fornash, 60, of Columbus; one count of illegally selling sport-caught white bass; 30-day suspended jail term, $250 fine and $1,560 restitution, and a three-year fishing license suspension.

●Eugene Garrison, 66, of Columbus; one count of illegally buying sport-caught walleye; 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended; $1,000 fine with $500 suspended, plus court costs, and a five-year fishing license suspension.

●Everette Holland, 72, of Cincinnati; illegally selling sport-caught white bass; fined $500 plus court costs and placed on probation for one year.

●Grady Jones, Jr., 54, of Clay City, Ky.; two counts of illegally selling sport-caught white bass and one count of illegally selling sport-caught crappie; 30-day suspended jail term, $1,250 in fines and $2,390 in restitution, and a three-year fishing license suspension.

●Larry Lemons, 50, of Akron; illegally purchasing sport-caught white bass; $100 fine plus court costs.

●Thomas E. Rhodes, 36, of Tiffin; one count of illegally selling sport-caught white bass and walleye; 60-day suspended jail term, $1,000 fine plus court costs and $1,370 in restitution, and a three-year fishing license suspension.

●Walter Rhodes, 38, of Tiffin; four counts of illegally selling sport-caught fish; 120 days in jail with 117 days suspended, $1,000 fine plus court costs, with $100 suspended, and a three-year fishing-license suspension.

●Patricia L. Strausbaugh, 68, of Fremont; one count of illegally selling sport-caught white bass; $250 fine plus court costs and $350 in restitution.

●Solomon Zellner, 61, of Columbus; illegally purchasing sport-caught white bass; $100 fine plus court costs.

●Tin's Golden Dragon of Fremont; illegally buying sport-caught walleye and illegally buying sport-caught yellow perch, $3,500 in fines.