December 20, 2011
By Christopher Williams, SunJournal.com
LEWISTON — A father and son from Turner were sentenced last week on
hunting-related charges in Northern Pennsylvania in what was regarded as
one of the most egregious cases of criminal hunting violations in that
region.
Everett Tyler Leonard, 32, was sentenced to three-and-a-half to 14
months in prison plus 18 months probation. He also was fined $3,550.
He had pleaded guilty in October to 11 illegal killings and 14 other
game offenses, including hunting at night, hunting from vehicles and
having loaded guns in vehicles.
Under Pennsylvania sentencing laws, Leonard will be eligible to seek
parole after he has served the minimum prison sentence, but could end up
serving all 14 months in prison at the Bradford County Correctional
Facility, Bradford County District Attorney Daniel Barrett said.
Leonard, who had undergone drug rehabilitation at a Maine program
since he was charged, spoke at his sentencing. He expressed great
remorse over his actions and how they affected his young family, Barrett
said. Leonard had also been charged with drug crimes, but pleaded guilty
only to the hunting-related crimes.
His father, Everett H. "Lenny" Leonard, 60, was sentenced to 15 days
to two months in prison plus 18 months of probation. He was also fined
$2,300.
He pleaded guilty to five illegal killings and a dozen other game
violations, including road hunting, loaded firearms in vehicles, killing
deer at night and license violations. He had faced up to seven years in
prison and up to $43,000 in fines and costs. The younger Leonard had
faced up to 24 years in prison and as much as $100,000 in fines and
costs.
If either Leonard were to violate their respective terms of parole or
probation, that case would be sent back to the judge for resentencing on
the plea, Barrett said.
The two are awaiting trial in Androscoggin County Superior Court in
Auburn on hunting and drug-related criminal charges.
Androscoggin County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis said
Monday his office had been waiting for the Pennsylvania court to impose
its sentences before moving ahead with the Leonards' cases here in
Maine.
Barrett said he hadn't recommended sentences for the Leonards,
leaving that instead to the court's discretion.
"We got them convicted," he said Monday. "Let the court decide what
to do with them."
Barrett had earlier characterized the Leonards' actions as "almost
the perfect storm of illegality, selfishness, senselessness and criminal
activity."
He said it was the first major hunting violations case in Northern
Pennsylvania since enactment of the laws that were supported equally by
the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the National Rifle
Association.
Both Leonards were arrested by wildlife conservation officers at the
Pennsylvania Game Commission following an investigation of illegal
hunting in October and December 2010 that took place in the Troy and
Armenia townships area, according to Barrett's office.
A third hunter implicated in the Leonards' shooting spree pleaded
guilty in August.
Lucien H. Clavet, 44, of Monmouth was sentenced to 18 months of
probation and fines totaling $1,800 for guilty pleas to unlawful killing
or taking of big game, a misdemeanor, two counts of employment of
unlawful hunting devices or methods, carrying a loaded firearm in a
motor vehicle and two counts of failure to tag and report a big-game
kill.
Clavet will be barred from applying for a Pennsylvania hunting
license while on probation.
A fourth adult hunter, Carlton "John" Enos, 19, also of Turner, who
faces multiple hunting violations in Bradford County, is the only member
of the Mainers' hunting party whose case is still pending in
Pennsylvania. He is on the January trial list in both Pennsylvania and
Maine, pending pretrial motions in both states.
A Greene teenager, charged for his participation in the Pennsylvania
poaching ring, pleaded guilty to all charges against him there and was
sentenced to pay nearly $7,000 in fines. His sentence did not include
any jail time, according to a Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman.
The 17-year-old was charged with unlawful killing and attempting to
kill deer, both out of season and with a spotlight using a motor vehicle
to hunt, and possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle. The charges
were part of a group of more than 250 counts filed against him and the
four men.
The two Leonards face similar hunting violations in Androscoggin
County. A fourth Turner man, Jason Clifford, 29, pleaded guilty in June
in Androscoggin County Superior Court to five misdemeanor charges,
including two counts of exceeding the bag limit on deer, driving deer,
waste of game and criminal trespass stemming from November violations
with the Leonards.
He was fined $4,250.
Enos faces eight hunting-related charges in Maine. His attorney
failed in August to convince an Androscoggin County Superior Court judge
to dismiss two of the charges on constitutional grounds.
Both Leonards appeared in the Auburn courtroom in May to plead not
guilty to dozens of hunting and drug charges.
A judge ordered the two men to have minimal contact because the
father — a former police officer — is alleged to have sold his
prescription pain medication to his son.
Everett H. Leonard was restricted by the judge in his prescription
for OxyContin, a brand name for the narcotic painkiller oxycodone. He
was released on $1,000 unsecured bond and told to possess no hunting
implements.
Conditions on the younger Leonard, who is free on a $5,000 unsecured
bond, mirrored those of his father, except that he has no prescription
for pain medication.
An Androscoggin County grand jury indicted father and son on 35
charges of illegal hunting, drug trafficking, criminal trespass and
indecent conduct.
Each was charged with crimes alleged to have occurred between
September and November 2010 in Turner, Leeds and Auburn.
The charges followed a four-month investigation by the Maine Warden
Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Pennsylvania Game
Commission.
When Leonard and his son were arrested earlier this year, police
seized hundreds of pounds of deer meat, firearms, deer antlers, bows and
arrows, spotlights, a mounted hawk and owls, a computer, documents and
other hunting-related equipment from their homes.
Counts in the indictment charging the older Leonard include four
felony counts of unlawful trafficking of oxycodone in Turner in
September and November; two counts of driving deer on Nov. 18 and Nov.
20 in Turner, in which he is accused of participating in a group hunt to
purposely drive deer toward a group of three or more people; one count
of trapping without a
license; and one count of indecent conduct, accused of purposely
exposing himself to someone with the purpose of alarming that person.
Charges filed against the younger Leonard are more extensive. He has
been charged with seven counts of hunting while his license was either
suspended or revoked, of which five counts are alleged to have occurred
over consecutive days of Nov. 17 through Nov. 21; two counts of hunting
deer and turkey in Turner during the closed season over consecutive
days in September; five counts of night hunting on consecutive days in
Leeds and Turner in November; three counts of illuminating wild animals
or birds; one count of molesting wildlife with a motor vehicle; and one
count of driving deer into a group of three or more people.
He has also been charged with five felony counts of unlawful
possession of oxycodone; two counts of criminal trespass, including one
charge stemming from his presence on DeCoster Egg Farm property, despite
specific instruction from a company representative that he was not
permitted to be there; and one count of theft by unauthorized taking,
stemming from the alleged theft of baby formula from Wal-Mart in
November.
If convicted of all of the Maine charges, the younger Leonard could
face a maximum of 43½ years in jail and $61,000 in fines; the older
Leonard, up to 42 years in jail and $84,000 in fines.
