New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Ross Morgan, (505) 222-4707
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
ross.morgan@state.nm.us 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JULY 1, 2013:

TROPHY DEER POACHER ORDERED TO DONATE $1,000 TO OPERATION GAME THIEF

MORIARTY – A Mountainair man convicted of poaching a trophy mule deer during the 2013 bow season has been ordered to donate $1,000 to Operation Game Thief for the unlawful killing and possession of the deer.

Jose Chavez, 25, pleaded guilty and was convicted June 26 by Magistrate Steve Jones. He admitted to poaching and criminal trespass on private land in Game Management Unit 38 in Torrance County with a public-land license. Chavez was ordered to donate $1,000 to Operation Game Thief, fined $179 in court fees and was sentenced to 364 days of unsupervised probation.

Chavez’s conviction followed a report by a confidential informant who witnessed Chavez kill and take the deer.

“The public is one of our biggest assets when it comes to catching poachers in New Mexico,” said Conservation Officer Shawn Carrell, the Department’s lead investigator on the case. “A lot of these cases might go unsolved if it wasn’t for the helpful information that the public and concerned hunters provide.”

Chavez also faces $6,000 in civil penalties for killing a deer considered a trophy pursuant to Safari Club International standards and state law that allows civil penalties up to $10,000 for poaching deer that are considered “trophies.”

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