Two Williams Lake men have pleaded guilty to hunting without consideration for the lives and safety of others and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.
Williams Lake Conservation Officers conducted a decoy hunting operation on private property west of the city back on November 6th, 2022 in response to public concerns of illegal hunting and trespassing.
They say two men were arrested after shooting the decoy from a maintained roadway and from inside the vehicle.
Conservation officers say a mule deer was then found in the back of the suspect’s vehicle, and that through the use of forensic DNA analysis, they were able to link the deer to a kill site on private property.
Matthew Marianne has now pleaded guilty and was fined a total of three thousand dollars, and is also prohibited from hunting in the province for 3 years unless supervised and in the presence of an approved individual.
Darcy William also pleaded guilty to the above mentioned charges and to the offence of possessing a firearm while prohibited.
William was issued a 6 month conditional sentence and has also been fined a total of $3000 and is suspended from hunting for 3 years outside of traditional territory.
The firearms prohibition order has been extended to lifetime, and one firearm was seized during the investigation and has been forfeited.
