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October 18,2009
Columbus Dispatch
Columbus Ohio - A guernsey county man was convicted Friday of interstate trafficing in live deer that hadn't been tested for diseases.
Danny Parrot, 62 of Kimbolton faces up to five years in prison, U. S. District Judge Algenon Marbly estimated after a jury delivered the verdicts in federal court in Columbus. A sentencing date has not been set.
Jurors found Parrot guilty of 14 counts involving the sale and transport of 54 White-tailed deer to a hunting preserve in South Carolina in 2005. They found hin not guilty of one count of wire fraud.
State and Federal Law prohibits moving deer across state lines if they have not been tested for conditions such as tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease.
Schaffer pleaded guilty in March to illegally importing the deer and testified against Parrot. He agreed to pay $150,000 in fines and $100,000 in contributions to wildlife funds and is awaiting sentencing.
Parrot's Attorney, Phillip Lehmkuhl, said in closing arguments that his client was "snookered" by Schaffer, who convinced himthat the deer were being sent to Florida, which Schaffer claimed was an "open-border state."
Parrot purchased the deer from several Amish breeders, some of whom testified that they told him the deer hadn't been tested and couldn't be taken out of state.
Special Assistant U. S. Attorney Heather Robinson said Parrot was motivated by greed and purchased untested deer because they are cheaper than tested deer. His company was in bankruptcy and he was close to losing his ranch, she said. He sold the deer for $72,000 and made a profit of $17,000,prosecutors estimated.
Lehmkuhl said that profit was "too small for someone to intentionally put their neck in the noose." But Robinson said Parrot was setting up the groundwork for future transactions with Schaffer.
Jury foreman Olin Hammer of Westerville said afterward that the most believeable witnesses were those who testified against Parrot. Jurors found Parrot not guilty of wire fraud because it appeared the money transfer in question was between him and Schaffer, both of whom were involved in the crime, Hammer said.
After the Jury was excused, Marbley ruled that Parrot could remain free while awaiting sentencing but must relinquish any guns because the Felony convictions prohibit him from possessing firearms.
He said Parrot can continue to serve as a hunting guide on the 90 acre ranch as long as he doesn't handle any of the hunters' guns or allow them to be brought into the lodge where he lives.
Columbus Dispatch
Columbus Ohio - A guernsey county man was convicted Friday of interstate trafficing in live deer that hadn't been tested for diseases.
Danny Parrot, 62 of Kimbolton faces up to five years in prison, U. S. District Judge Algenon Marbly estimated after a jury delivered the verdicts in federal court in Columbus. A sentencing date has not been set.
Jurors found Parrot guilty of 14 counts involving the sale and transport of 54 White-tailed deer to a hunting preserve in South Carolina in 2005. They found hin not guilty of one count of wire fraud.
State and Federal Law prohibits moving deer across state lines if they have not been tested for conditions such as tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease.
Schaffer pleaded guilty in March to illegally importing the deer and testified against Parrot. He agreed to pay $150,000 in fines and $100,000 in contributions to wildlife funds and is awaiting sentencing.
Parrot's Attorney, Phillip Lehmkuhl, said in closing arguments that his client was "snookered" by Schaffer, who convinced himthat the deer were being sent to Florida, which Schaffer claimed was an "open-border state."
Parrot purchased the deer from several Amish breeders, some of whom testified that they told him the deer hadn't been tested and couldn't be taken out of state.
Special Assistant U. S. Attorney Heather Robinson said Parrot was motivated by greed and purchased untested deer because they are cheaper than tested deer. His company was in bankruptcy and he was close to losing his ranch, she said. He sold the deer for $72,000 and made a profit of $17,000,prosecutors estimated.
Lehmkuhl said that profit was "too small for someone to intentionally put their neck in the noose." But Robinson said Parrot was setting up the groundwork for future transactions with Schaffer.
Jury foreman Olin Hammer of Westerville said afterward that the most believeable witnesses were those who testified against Parrot. Jurors found Parrot not guilty of wire fraud because it appeared the money transfer in question was between him and Schaffer, both of whom were involved in the crime, Hammer said.
After the Jury was excused, Marbley ruled that Parrot could remain free while awaiting sentencing but must relinquish any guns because the Felony convictions prohibit him from possessing firearms.
He said Parrot can continue to serve as a hunting guide on the 90 acre ranch as long as he doesn't handle any of the hunters' guns or allow them to be brought into the lodge where he lives.
