Deer Poacher Sentenced in Kent County

Natural Resources Police Cite Others for Oyster, Striped Bass Violations

The deer poacher convicted of killing a massive deer known as “mega-buck” on someone else’s property was sentenced Monday in Kent County Circuit Court.

Ronald Wayne Roe, 29, of Worton was convicted in February 2017 of multiple poaching charges in district court and appealed the decision. This week, he pleaded guilty to trespassing on private property and hunting without written permission in a negotiated agreement.

Roe killed the 17-point buck—a potential state record—in September 2016.

Joseph Bogdan, the landowner who had targeted the massive buck for several years only to have Roe shoot it, told the judge it was “the kind of deer that makes a good neighbor a bad neighbor.” Bogdan said at first he congratulated Roe but “it went sour” as the facts came out.

“The deer was baited, killed and gutted on my property,” Bogdan said.

A scorer for the Boone and Crockett Club, which measures deer antlers for possible records, said the rack was 212 7/8 total inches. That would have secured the club’s top spot for Maryland crossbow hunters and a top 10 overall state ranking.

By the time of this week’s appeals hearing, Roe had already paid $2,000 in restitution to the state and served a one-year suspension of his hunting privileges. This week, Roe received a jail sentence of 60 days, suspended, and was given 18 months of unsupervised probation.

The poacher forfeited the antlers, hide and meat to the state. However, the judge ruled that Roe would be allowed to pay for a replica of the deer antlers. He cannot display the replica antlers in public or on social media and cannot benefit in any way from them.

An Anne Arundel County man was charged Thursday with oyster violations after he was stopped by Natural Resources Police at a commercial seafood buyer during a routine inspection.

Christopher Michael Sullivan, 31, of Glen Burnie, received a criminal summons for failing to deliver his harvest to a certified dealer on the same day, failing to have shellfish maintained at a temperature established by the state and disorderly conduct. He also received natural resources citations for reusing state-issued oyster tags and leaving old tags on oyster baskets. A hearing date in Queen Anne’s County District Court has not been set.

An officer saw Sullivan drive into Harris Seafood in Grasonville Feb. 22 with 26 bushels of oysters in the truck bed — more oysters than a single daily license allotment would allow. Sullivan said his harvest included 13 bushels from the previous day, which he kept in a residential refrigerator. Officers seized 15 bushels that had tags from previous days or were untagged and returned them to a closed shellfish area.

An investigation determined Sullivan violated Maryland Department of Health regulations because he was not legally permitted to store oysters overnight.

If found guilty of all charges, Sullivan could be fined as much as $3,500.

A Baltimore County man is scheduled to appear in Queen Anne’s County District Court April 19 for illegal fishing of striped bass.

Zeferio Mendoza Gonzalez, 33, of Monkton, was one of several fishermen checked at the Romancoke pier Feb. 25 by an officer on routine patrol. The officer noticed two lines tied to the pier railing that led to the water; at the end of the lines were six striped bass.

Gonzalez, who acknowledged the fish were his, received a citation for possessing striped bass out of season.