Tiffin man convicted after multi-year Seneca County poaching investigation

A multi-year wildlife investigation in northwest Ohio has ended with seven people convicted of 15 state charges and one federal charge, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

The case centered on 25-year-old Owen Schumm of Tiffin, whom the Division of Wildlife identified as the main suspect. It began with a call to the state’s Turn-in-a-Poacher hotline reporting a possible wildlife violation to State Wildlife Officer Brock Williamson, who is assigned to Seneca County. Investigators later identified additional suspects accused of breaking various wildlife laws.

Schumm was convicted of eight state charges and the case’s only federal charge. According to the Division of Wildlife, the state charges were aiding a wildlife offender in hunting from a motor vehicle, two counts of killing migratory geese with a rifle, killing a killdeer, killing a woodpecker, littering, and two counts of possessing untagged deer parts. The federal charge was exceeding the daily possession limit for doves.

He was ordered to pay $1,200 in state fines, $1,480 in state court costs, $1,930 in federal fines and court costs, and $550 in restitution — $5,160 in all. He received a 240-day jail sentence, which was suspended, along with 50 hours of community service and a two-year revocation of his hunting and trapping privileges.

Across the full investigation, the seven people were ordered to pay a combined $9,122. That figure includes $3,915 in state fines, $2,727 in state court costs, $1,930 in federal fines and court costs, and $550 in restitution.

Schumm accounted for more than half of that total, and for every dollar of the restitution and the federal penalties reported in the case.

The seven received a combined 270 days in jail, all suspended, along with 65 hours of community service. The Division of Wildlife also reported a two-year hunting and trapping revocation in its summary of the case.

The Division of Wildlife announced the conclusion of the case Thursday. The agency did not identify the six other people convicted.

Ohio’s Turn-in-a-Poacher program takes reports of wildlife violations at 1-800-POACHER (1-800-762-2437). The Division of Wildlife says information received through the program is kept confidential.