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Undercover wildlife investigation results in over $35,000 in fines, hunting suspensions and incarceration

 September 10, 2009

BRANDON, Man. – Two Manitoba men operating an outfitting operation and two American men face a total of $35,512 in fines, hunting suspensions as well as one day of incarceration for one man after pleading guilty to multiple violations of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (MBCA) and the Wildlife Act.

On September 10, 2009, Brandon, Manitoba provincial court Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta sentenced Jamie McCutchin, age 40, of Sandy Lake, Manitoba to $26,462 in fines and court fees, a 10-year migratory bird hunting suspension, a five-year hunting and guiding suspension and one day of incarceration after he pleaded guilty to five counts of MBCA violations and one count under the Wildlife Act. Dennis McCutchin, age 61, of Brandon, Manitoba was sentenced to $5,800 in fines, a  two-year hunting and guiding suspension and a two-year migratory bird hunting suspension after pleading guilty to three counts of MBCA violations and three counts for violations under the Wildlife Act.

During an August 28, 2009 court date in Brandon, Manitoba, David and Roger Ohl of Illinois, who were clients of the McCutchins during this operation each pleaded guilty to two counts of violations under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. David Ohl was sentenced to fines totalling $1,750 and was given a one-year migratory bird hunting suspension. Roger Ohl was sentenced to fines totalling $1,500.

The investigation that led to these fines, “Operation Double-Dip”, was initiated in the fall of 2007, led by Environment Canada Wildlife Enforcement Division and Manitoba Conservation with support from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.