They took fish weigh in. By taking those fish to weigh-in they claim those fish as theirs. If they are not their fish, then it is fraud also. If I remember right, I was fishing a tournament at Fork I think I heard the GW ask a fisherman at weigh-in if it was his fish. He claimed the fish and they took a walk. I also don't think they will serve much time if any. Heck, we have people who have done worse and not served much time if any at all.

I'm not sure why all the surprise the they pled not guilty. Who in their right mind would plead guilty to anything? If you plead guilty then you don't get a trial, you go right to sentencing. Anyone with any sense would plead not guilty and take their chances with a trial. Especially in this type of case. No jury is going to understand that Walleye with weights in their gut wouldn't chase a lure. Nor will they understand how unlikely it is that someone else did this and released a bunch of these fish and these guys just happened to catch 5 of them. They may even claim that these are retreads from another tournament that happened to be grouped together in a small area.

I think these guys are despicable and I hope they find a jury that are all anglers and they get the book thrown at them. But that's not likely. I completely understand why the pled not guilty.

I was caught speeding once. I plead guilty, paid my fine, and went on with my life. Why would I plead not guilty? If I did it, I did it.

These guys were caught. They should have plead guilty. They did do it. By pleading not guilty, wouldn’t the sentencing be greater if they were in fact proven guilty?

Just more proof that our court system is a joke and broken.

Apples to Oranges.

I get what you're saying. You paid the ticket because it was more convenient for you and you would likely be found guilty and have to pay anyway. However, i suspect that if speeding were a felony and carried jail time you would have plead not guilty and insisted on a trial.

But “what if” he were actually guilty of speeding??? Maybe there needs to be some accountability these days for breaking rules/laws.

No. If the fines and punishments were like that, I wouldn't have been speeding.

What would you think the statistical probability is of catching 5 fish all with matching 12 oz weights in them..... you can pretty much prove it.

They are probably just doing what their legal council advised them to do. Will they beat the wrap? Who knows, but this is their best odds at walking away. I still think they'll be found guilty.......

Slap on wrist reguardless of outcome

Postering to plea to lesser charges. It will never see trial. According to the article the max on the felony theft charge is one year in prison. Likely they do less than 30 days. More likely they do no jail time. Probation, fine and community service.

Slap on the wrist pay some fines and move on. There done fishing tournaments most likely if they work for somebody they'll lose there jobs. He may get his boat back and put on probation for 3 years no fishing. All for a few thousand dollars.

Should have plead No Contest... No admission of guilt, just the facts are the facts... Dan

Yeh. I could have. I had a class a CDL at the time too. They wanted to suspend my license and all kinds of [censored]. I surrendered my CDL. I didn’t need or use it anyways. I kinda just got it because it sounded cool.