RENO, Nev. (AP) - A 22-year-old Utah man has been sentenced to 20 days in jail and fined $15,000 nearly four years after he removed the antlers from a mule deer he illegally shot in southern Nevada and left behind the rest of the animal.
Brayden Norton of Washington, Utah was arrested in May 2019 after new information developed in the killing of the deer near Caliente in November 2016, Nevada Department of Wildlife officials said Friday.
Chief Game Warden Mike Maynard said the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources provided assistance crucial to solving the crime. He said Norton never purchased a Nevada hunting license and didn’t have a big-game tag.
“I’m sure this young man thought he had gotten away with this crime, but new evidence helped lead this investigation to his doorstep and eventually his conviction,” Maynard said. “People like this are definitely not sportsmen,.”
Norton pleaded guilty in Lincoln County to unlawful possession of big game and wasting edible portions of a deer.
He originally was sentenced to about a year in jail, but all but 20 days was suspended. In addition to the fine, he must complete 200 hours of community service and 12 months probation. He’s banned from hunting in Nevada for five years.
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