9/7/2007

John N. Miller, 35, of Flatwoods, and Robert R. Bordelon, 28, of Boyce, both pled guilty on Sept. 7, 2007, in 9th Judicial District Court to several hunting violations. Judge Thomas M. Yeager accepted the guilty pleas, fined both men, sentenced each to jail and revoked their hunting privileges for five years.

Miller and Bordelon both pled guilty to hunting from a moving vehicle, two counts each of hunting deer at night, hunting deer during a closed season and possession of illegal game.

Yeager ordered Miller to pay $3,656 in fines and court costs, pay $500 to Operation Game Thief and sentenced him to 90 days in prison with 60 of those days suspended. Yeager ordered Bordelon to pay $3,256 in fines and court costs, pay $400 to Operation Game Thief and sentenced him to 90 days in prison with 80 of those days suspended.

Yeager also ordered Miller and Bordelon each to pay $1,573.62 in restitution to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) for the deer they killed illegally. Judge Yeager placed both men on supervised probation for two years and ordered them to pay a $55 per month supervision fee. Yeager then ordered the 12-gauge shotgun used by Miller and Bordelon to be forfeited to LDWF.

The guilty pleas stem from an investigation by LDWF Enforcement Division agents, which began on June 22, 2007. According to statements from witnesses and those involved, the violations were the result of Carlos A. Pickering, 38, of Boyce, allegedly asking Miller to get him some deer on June 21, 2007. Miller then killed one deer while driving along on Hwy. 8 around 10 p.m. Miller later got with Bordelon and they killed two more deer in Kisatchie National Forest near Flatwoods between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.

Miller and Bordelon then took the three deer and dropped them off in the Pickering?s yard. When the Pickering?s awoke and found the deer, two of the deer had already spoiled. The two spoiled deer were hauled off and the other deer was cleaned and divided among relatives. Pickering is currently awaiting trial on three counts of possession of illegally taken deer in this case.

Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Michael W. Shannon prosecuted the case against Miller and Bordelon. Lt. Eric Stokes, Sgt. Travis Burnett, Sgt. Rusty Perry, Senior Agent Douglas Anderson, Senior Agent Byron Cammack and Senior Agent Spencer Cole participated in the case.