A Tennessee man has been handed a felony conviction after a 3-year poaching spree. His reign, which began back in 2020, came to an end after a landowner caught him and his accomplice shooting two deer after dark using a spotlight.
After coming out to confront the pair, the accused, William Franklin Stamey Jr., 22, pointed his rifle at the landowner and threatened to kill him. The pair were later stopped by a Hawkins County Sheriff’s deputy who uncovered a spotlight and hunting rifles in their vehicle. Both Stamey and the driver were taken into custody and a third vehicle occupant was charged as an accessory.
The case was then handed off to Tennessee’s Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) who kicked off a full-scale investigation into the accused. Multiple search warrants were executed at Stamey’s home producing one buck deer carcass which had been falsely checked in as an archery harvest and a second visit that uncovered eleven more sets of deer antlers Stamey admitted to killing illegally.
All-in-all, Stamey admitted to illegally killing 35 deer according to TWRA officer Justin Pinkston.
“Over a three-and-a-half-year period, Stamey was charged with killing or assisting in killing 15 deer illegally, and admitted to poaching 20 deer from the road in 2020 alone.” Pinkston said. “Sadly, most of these deer were left lying and were never recovered.”
Stamey appeared in Hawkins County Circuit Court on February 28th and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, spotlighting deer, hunting from a motor vehicle, and a second and third offense of hunting big game in closed season.
He has been ordered to serve six months of a four-year sentence for the aggravated assault charge, and six months for each of the hunting big game in closed season charges, with all jail time to run concurrently.
In addition to fines and court costs, Stamey must pay $12,500 in restitution and had his hunting privileges revoked for life. He also forfeited a spotlight, a muzzleloader, a rifle, and a compound bow along with deer meat, turkey parts, and 14 deer racks.
