Bait and Snitch

There's a sued sheriff in town.

Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby has pleaded no contest to noncriminal charges that stem from a 2004 hunting trip in Wisconsin.

A Richland County judge adjudicated McNesby guilty of two counts of illegal hunting/possession of game/birds and placing bait with nondegradable material.

McNesby, who entered his plea last month, had to pay a fine of about $2,500, and his hunting license in the state of Wisconsin was revoked for three years.

McNesby's mug now goes in the book along with more than fifteen other Pensacola bigwig-wannabees (including a prominent minister who organized 'Christian hunting' parties) who've been nabbed for cheating while slaughtering Bambi and her relatives just so they could bring home a trophy.

It's pretty clear some among them wound up snitching on their hunting buddies. However, the biggest game has yet to be bagged. Similar illegal hunting charges are still pending against George Touart and Mike Whitehead. Those two have raised the defense that they're too stupid to know hunting ethics or laws.

We're with Touart on that one. He's so dumb he could screw up a retirement party -- and has.

As for county commissioner Mike Whitehead, no punishment could be too severe. In Wisconsin, Macho Man Mike was out to massacre helpless deer. Here in Pensacola he's known for making war against endangered species like the Perdido Key beach mouse, using excessive condo building permits as his weapon of choice. The man is a wildlife terrorist.

We think an appropriate punishment would be extraordinary rendition. Let the Wisconsin police blindfold Whitehead, pack him on a plane, and send him to the Milwaukee Zoo. There, interrogators like the ones seen below will know how to deal with him:

Pensacola Big-Wigs Busted in Wisconsin

"A righteous man respects the life of his animal: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

-- Proverbs 12:10

An undercover sting of illegal deer and turkey hunting in southwest Wisconsin "culminated Wednesday when state and federal prosecutors filed 186 charges against 46 people from 11 states." Out of the 46 people charged, 18 are from Pensacola, including prominent Pensacola politicians and a Baptist minister.

In a top-of-the-front-page headline story, the Pensacola News Journal's Kris Thoma reports, "Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby, Escambia County Commissioner Mike Whitehead, the Rev. Gordon Godfrey of Marcus Pointe Baptist Church and 15 other local residents" were among those being charged in Wisconsin.

Also involved in some unspecified way, the local reporter writes, is Escambia County administrator George Tuart. Touart purportedly "has not been charged and refused to discuss the matter Monday night."

Thoma says the charges against McNesby and Whitehead include hunting deer during the closed season and hunting deer "over bait." McNesby also faces an additional charge of hunting deer without a license, the paper reports.

At the center of the case is Adam Lee Lawinger, who owns and operates Blue River Outfitters. Lawinger has been charged in federal court "with conspiring to sell deer and turkeys that were illegally hunted and transported across state lines." Wisconsin news reports say it is alleged --

"that he sold guided deer and turkey hunts on land he and an unindicted co- conspirator owned or leased. In the process, the charges allege, Lawinger allowed hunters to kill deer and turkeys without licenses, used female deer carcasses more than once to register multiple bucks, baited deer within chronic wasting disease control zones, and shined and shot deer at night.

Baptist minister Godfrey told local reporters that over the past few years he "organized Christian hunting trips... for numerous church members" led by Lawinger.

What's a "Christian hunting trip" involve? Among the accusations Godfrey faces are:

· Hunting deer with an improper license.
· Hunting wild turkey during the closed season.
· Hunting wild turkey without a valid permit.
· Hunting wild turkey without a license.
· Transporting/possessing untagged turkey.
· Failure to make an effort to retrieve downed game.

According to Randy Stark, Wisconsin's chief game warden, during the multi-year undercover sting operation, "We observed an almost obsessive overemphasis on trophy hunting. By making shooting a trophy the only goal of hunting, cutting corners on fair chase became acceptable to these poachers, and complying with conservation law became optional."