Michigan Poacher Charged With 125 Misdemeanor Wildlife Crimes

A poacher was charged with 125 misdemeanor wildlife crimes was only sentenced to 90 days in jail - but likely will only spend 60 days behind bars.

I had heard about this story a while ago and was blown away at how many animals this man had illegally taken and thought he would get several years in prison but they say he will only do 60 or 90 days.

According to MLive, 56-year-old Kurt Johnston Duncan will spend 60 days behind bars for a large number of poaching a variety of animals in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers found that Duncan had illegally killed 18 wolves in 18-month's time. As much as the DNR prides itself on the wolf population, I am surprised the man is only doing 60 days.

Duncan had poached piles of bear, bobcat, deer, turkey and even some eagles.

I know of a guy near Flint who killed his own dog and got two years in prison. It was wrong of him to do but at the same time a guy kills 18 protected wolves and gets 60 days time served, I'm not sure this is justice.

DNR Law Enforcement Chief Gary Hagler said in a release,

We hope this poaching case acts as a deterrent to criminals for committing future wildlife crimes such as this. Our officers did an excellent job working as a team and building this investigation so it could move quickly through the criminal justice system.

I am not condemning what the DNR officers did, it sounds like they did a fine job catching this guy and with the amount of animals he had illegally taken as proof, it seems like an open and shut case.

I'm disappointed in the justice system for allowing Duncan to plea to just three counts of illegally taking wolves and eagles each, plus one count of illegal commercialization of a protected wolf. I think he should have been charged on all 18 wolves and all the other animals he possessed.

If speed of the court system was the issue, I believe we could have waited a little longer to really through the book at Duncan. This would have made a better deterrent than the mild slap on the wrist Duncan received. The sheer number of animals poached blows my mind.