BOWLING GREEN — The ringleader of a large-scale wildlife poaching operation is going to prison.
Robert Mandon Freeworth, 37, of Grand Rapids, Ohio, has been sentenced to four years in prison by Wood County Common Pleas Judge Reeve Kelsey for a pattern of corrupt activity that included shooting deer at night, shooting deer out of season, hunting without permission, improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, the illegal sale of venison, tampering with records, and additional wildlife violations.
Freeworth, who pleaded guilty in December, was also ordered to pay $5,513.03 in restitution for deer he killed illegally, and forfeit 51 items that were seized in a March, 2016, raid by officers of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. Those forfeited items included two rifles, a muzzleloader, a sport utility vehicle, numerous trophy deer mounts, deer parts, and venison.
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