HUNTINGDON – A Huntingdon County poaching case recently resulted in guilty pleas and convictions for the ring comprised of Cory Mills, 18, of Rockhill; Matthew Varner Jr., 18, of Shade Gap; Bryan Edgin, 18, of Needmore; and a 17-year-old juvenile, of Milroy, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer Justin Klugh.
Mills pled guilty to illegally killing five deer, one count of unlawful use of lights while hunting, one count each for illegally killing a pheasant, raccoon, and bear; and one count of interference. District Judge Mary G. Jamison, of Orbisonia, ordered Mills to pay $4,150 in fines. Mills also will lose his hunting and trapping privileges for 16 years.
The juvenile pled guilty to one count of illegally killing a deer and one count of unlawful use of lights. Jamison ordered the juvenile to pay $875 in fines. The juvenile also will lose his hunting and trapping privileges for three years.
Varner was found guilty by Jamison on two counts of illegally killing a deer, and was fined $750. He also will lose his hunting and trapping privileges for four years.
Edgin was found guilty of one count of assisting with the unlawful possession of a bear, and was fined $500. He also will lose his hunting and trapping privileges for three years.
The investigation began last spring, when Klugh received nonspecific information regarding two local high school students, Mills and Varner, who were poaching deer and bear.
“The informants said that there were pictures on a cell phone of illegally killed game,” said Klugh, who serves in Huntingdon County. “As the fall approached, I again received nonspecific information that Mills and Varner were starting to shoot deer again.
“Around Oct. 11, I received a call about an individual driving a small, blue sedan with a loud silver muffler had just shot a six-point buck and ran from the landowner. Then, in November, I learned that Cory Mills had gotten a small, blue sedan with a loud silver muffler.”
Around 10:30 p.m., on Nov. 16, Deputy WCOs Lanny Cornelius and Craig Cloud were on night patrol near the location where the deer was killed in October, and they heard a car with a loud muffler pass by.
“About 30 minutes later, Fish and Boat Commission Waterways Conservation Officer Cory Britcher and I observed a spotlight coming from that direction,” said Klugh, who was assisted by fellow Huntingdon County WCO Richard Danley Jr. “At 11:16 p.m., near Blairs Mills, we got behind the vehicle at it was driving slowly and spotlighting for deer, it was a car that matched the vehicle that Cory Mills drove. When we attempted to pull the over for spotlighting after 11 p.m., they took off and eventually pulled over near Orbisonia when they had vehicle trouble.
“The occupants of the car were Mills, Varner, and the juvenile. Three rifles (.22, .22 magnum, and .243) were in the vehicle, and two were loaded. We also found a spotlight, and lots of spent shell casings.”
Consent was given to look in the trunk, where blood, hair, and feathers of wildlife that was killed were found. Also confiscated was a cell phone with photos, a bear skull and another .243 rifle.
“All the information that we received from concerned Huntingdon County citiziens is what made this case possible,” said Klugh. “We also offer our thanks to WCO Raymond Madden, who was serving as a Cadet at the time of the investigation, the Huntingdon County Fish and Boat Commission Waterways Conservation Officers and the Pennsylvania State Police for their assistance in this case.”